((Brian, I am trying to get beyond that you are probably anti semetic and anti Israel)) An idiotic accusation to one who states a very obvious fact. I can hardly get beyond the fact that people like you leech off American taxpayer dollars to murder thousands. ((No one tests the US weapons better than Israel)) More like using Palestinians as target practice, and giving feedback. ((The US knows that they can depend on Israel to fight terror.)) Fighting 'terror' with even more terror... I'm sure every tax dollar is worth it, eh?

You seem to know what you're talking about. What's still not clear to me is the internal politics. This has been a bad deal for Israel from day one, everyone can see that. So what are the internal political dynamics that keep this bad deal alive. Defense is a primary concern for Israel. You're not just collecting useless junk for the heck of it. So why aren't you getting the best and who in Israel is getting in the way of cancelling this deal, or at least reformulating it?

You ask some good q's about the dynamics of the US-Israel funding politics. There is a bit too much to get into here, so at the risk of reducing this down too much, I'll use an analogy: a drug dealer. Drug Dealers often give their product away free to first time users, hook them, and gain a customer for life. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the USA, or anyone else, is a drug dealer per se. OTOH, it is quite clear that the USA, in particular, has wanted to maintain its qualitative military superiority since WWII, and this means funding the research necessary to stay ahead. We do this two ways: 1. We put more tax dollars toward our military than much of the rest of the planet put together. But even THAT isn't enough, so the second step is important. 2. We undercut other indigenous arms programs, especially advanced weaponry like planes. This is where the drug dealer analogy comes in. Starting a weapons program is prohibitively expensive, but in the case of Israel it was done in the late-60s and early-70s thru a combination of work with France, theft from France, and Israeli efforts, leading the the Nesher and Kfir, two fairly good planes. What this meant, however, was that as this program moved forward it could have competed away American plane sales. How do you stop this? Make American products available to Israel at cut rate prices so the Israelis will kill their own aircraft research and buy American. Israel tried to finagle this with the Lavi program, but the US Aerospace industry intervened and that was that (I'll skip the details here). Of course, buying planes also means maintaining them, stocking the parts, etc. and virtually the entire inventory of the IAF is American made now (in fact, all the active combat planes are American). As a consequence, it becomes more difficult and more costly for Israel to shift away from American planes. And this is, in part, why the $3bln. grant is so important for both the USA and Israel. The grant means that Israel can't afford NOT to buy American and Israeli purchases, both with granted dollars and with Israeli money, keep alot of Americans working. And all of this pays for more and more American tech. This is why I am always astonished by those Americans who chirp about the money that we give to Israel. I figure they are either ig'nant or anti-Semitic/Zionist because if they understood the benefits that we received (and this is by no means a complete discussion) they'd realize what a great deal we've gotten for our money.

Thank you for your detailed response. It makes sense from the US side. It would take a real act of courage for the Israeli government to "decline" US aid, but considering the present state of subservience in not only military purchases but in everything else, I see no chance of that. It's a real pity because this is a bad deal not only from the security point of view, but it has become a PR weapon in the hands of the anti-Israel lobby. Perhaps like the drug addicted person, Israel needs to start a slow withdrawal, spending a little less each year. Thanks, again.

Every time the US gives Israel a technology, it *somehow* finds its way to China and Russia. Although I am sure the technical data on teh f35 has already been compromised by Chinese hackers, it will only be a matter of time before the Chinese get some hands on touchy feely time with the "Israeli F35"...