Romney and Israel

Set aside the utter stupidity and inaccuracy of Mitt Romney’s observation in the midst of his kowtow to Israel and it’s right-wing American  Jewish and Christian supporters that Israel’s economy is better off than the Palestinian economy because of a superior Israeli culture.

Think about this:  Romney said that Israel boasts a  per capita GDP of  $21,000. Actually, Israel’s per capita GDP is closer to $30,000 or about ten times the per capita GDP in the Palestinian controlled areas, thanks largely to the Israeli stranglehold on the Palestinians. Israel’s per capita GDP is 26^th worldwide.  (Japan and South Korea rank 24^th and 25^th respectively)

So here’s the question: Why is Israel the largest recipient of U.S. aid at more than $3 billion year –representing  one of the biggest earmarks in the budget and more than any other nation in the world gets when it is one of the world’s wealthiest nations and thus one of the least needy.   Supporters of this huge expense paid by the U.S. taxpayer would say it’s for defense of the only democracy in the region.  To which one might say, “Phooey!”  Israel has the largest military force in the Middle East. It has the most sophisticated weapons systems in the region. It has 200 nuclear war heads, all easily deliverable.  It also spends vast amounts of money freed up by U.S. assistance to act in ways that are directly in defiance of U. S. policy, such as the development of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, subsidies for residents of the settlements and infrastructure that enables Israelis  to travel easily between settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights  to Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Palestinians cannot travel on those roads, or even to enter Jerusalem which is as holy to them as it is to Jews.