Vantage | American taxpayers are big losers in Israel's war

Wednesday was day 54 of the Israel-Hamas war; more hostages were released, prisoners were exchanged, families were reunited, and Gazans are now breathing a sigh of relief. Aid is entering the Strip. Things seem calmer, at least for now, which means the truce is holding. But will this temporary truce turn into a permanent ceasefire? It depends on the appetite for war, and Israel has plenty of it. They want to destroy Hamas. The world, on the other hand, is not so much. Any war is bad for the world and for the economy. Plus, wars are costly, but Israel isn’t too worried about that because it has the US covering its back. America has pledged $14.3 billion in aid for Israel. And there’s likely to be more, which is hardly surprising, as from 1948 to 2023, America has given Israel $124 billion in aid. That’s both military and economic assistance.

Plus, there’s been extra aid, like $10 billion for the development of the Iron Dome. Since 2004, Washington has been giving Israel $3 billion every year. That’s a lot of money; this makes Israel the largest recipient of US security aid. Meanwhile, America accounts for 92 per cent of Israeli arms imports. which means that without US arms, Israel cannot sustain itself. Plus, there are subsidies; Israel can buy weapons at subsidised rates. US defence contractors get benefits like steady contracts. It’s a win-win for both. But who is losing out? The American taxpayers — they are the ones footing the bill — and most of them don’t even want to. According to a new survey, only 32 per cent Americans say the US should support israel militarily the other 68 per cent say there should be a ceasefire. So there’s little appetite for war in America. It’s understandable. Americans are grappling with inflation. Food prices are up by 25 per cent since 2020. Rents are up by 20 per cent. Electricity is up by 25 per cent. Car insurance is up by 33 per cent. Housing is becoming unaffordable. The cost of living crisis is squeezing savings, and credit card debts are soaring. Meanwhile, America’s national debt is inching close to $34 trillion. So Americans feel they can ill-afford to pay for another war. And yet, the Biden administration has been sending arms and more. Since 7 October, there have been direct commercial sales. US defence contractors have been selling directly to Israel. Pending orders have been pushed up — Pentagon’s stockpile has been redirected to West Asia. Plus, some in the administration have a stake in this. Take the US’ Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, he is a former board member of Raytheon, the company is known as RTX now. It is a military contractor that provides weapons to Israel. Then, there is Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. In 2017, he co-founded WestExec Advisors. It works for military contractors, startups and Israeli companies. Blinken has advised Boeing according to his financial disclosure, and Boeing is also supplying weapons to Israel. So, Biden’s team was advising military contractors, and now the Biden administration is sending weapons. Weapons that are being used to fight the war. And funding all of this are US taxpayers who are basically American citizens. Some of them say they did not sign up for this. So Israel is heavily reliant on the US which gives the Americans a lot of leverage. They can force Israeli PM Netanyahu to end the war. A ceasefire is already in place — will America make a push to make it permanent? The decision will be both political and financial. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.