How much does foreign aid to Israel cost America???

[Epidemic]

I hear about this aid but I am not able to lay a finger on it.

When I hear foreign "AID" I always think of cash grants or equipment grants.

What is american foreign AID to Israel in the form of and how much do we give?

[MTAtech]

Something like $3-4 Billion per year, mostly in military aid (partially used to buy U.S. made weapons.)

[Epidemic]

3 - 4 billion dollars?

Now how much money does israel pay back?

[RobRich]

Statistics for United States Foriegn Military Financing (bulk of foreign aid, only controversial countries listed below)

Armenia
2001: $0
2003: $3,000,000
"The Government's human rights record remained poor..."

Azerbaijan
2001: $0
2003: $3,000,000
"The Government's human rights record remained poor."

Ethiopia
2001: $0
2003: $500,000
"The Government's human rights record remained poor...serious problems remained."

Georgia
2001: $0
2003: $7,00,000
The Government's human rights record remained poor and worsened in several areas.

India
2001: $0
2002: $50,000,000
"...numerous serious problems remain in many significant areas. Significant human rights abuses...."

Israel
2001: $1,975,644,000
2003: $2,100,000,000
"The Government generally respects the human rights of its citizens. However, there continued to be problems with respect to its treatment of Arab citizens. Historically, Israel's main human rights problems have arisen from its actions in response to the terrorist threat and its policies and practices in the occupied territories."

Jordan
2001: $74,835,000
2003: $198,000,000
"The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens in some areas; however, there were significant problems in other areas."

Kazakhstan
2001: $1,896,000
2003: $3,000,000
"The Government's human rights record was poor.... serious problems remained."

Kyrgyzstan
2001: $1,846,000
2003: $4,000,000
"The Government's human rights record remained poor.... numerous problems remained."

Kenya
2001: $1,000,000
2003: $1,500,000
"The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit numerous, serious abuses."

Nepal
2001: $0
2003: $3,000,000
"....there were problems in some areas. The police at times used unwarranted lethal force and continued to abuse detainees, using torture as punishment or to extract confessions."

Oman
2001: $0
2003: $20,000,000
"The Government generally respected its citizens' human rights in some areas; however, its record was poor in other areas."

Pakistan
2001: $0
2003: $50,000,000
"The Government's human rights record remained poor.... serious problems remained"

Philippines
2001: $1,995,000
2003: $20,000,000
"The Government generally respected the human rights of citizens; however, there were serious problems in some areas. Members of the security services were responsible for extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention; there were allegations by human rights groups that these problems worsened as the Government sought to intensify its campaign against the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). "

Turkey
2001: $0
2003: $17,500,000
"The Government generally respected its citizens' human rights in a number of areas; however, its record was poor in some areas, and several serious problems remained. Extrajudicial killings continued, including deaths due to excessive use of force and torture."

Uzbekistan
2001: $2,445,000
2003: $8,750,000
"The Government's human rights record remained very poor, and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses."

Yemen
2001: $0
2003: $2,000,000
"The Government generally respected its citizens' human rights in some areas and continued to improve its human rights performance; however, its record was poor in several other areas, and serious problems remain."

All information collected, quoted, and verifiable through Internet accesible US Department of State records.

[Epidemic]

I understand that we send dollars everywhere. The question is in what form those dollars are given. AFAIK they are not grants to israel. In otherwords it appears as if we are payed back as if these are loans and guarantees. We spent billions in materials and cash but if the money comes back at a reasonable rate of return I do not consider it aid.

Are these loans, and are they payed back. As for the other aided countries I would be interested in that as well.

[RobRich]

I covered the "how much" portion of your inquiry. The "type" of aid can be varied, but the bulk will be in the form of direct grants that do not have to be paid back. A portion is in supposed loans, though we usually receive little back in return for loans. We commonly convert loans into grants at a later date if the money is being used for purposes we feel are appropriate according to the initial terms of the agreement.

In addition to military and economic aid, Israel usually qualifies for $2 billion in US Federal loan guarantees each year. In addition to aid, we have directly absorbed another $49,936,680,000 in interest for Israel aid since 1949. Total benefits to Israel since 1949 when factoring in this interest is $134,791,507,200.

In the case of Israel, MTAtech is correct in asserting that a portion of the money is returned to the United States private sector through the purchasing of military arms.

[originel]

of course even when they are returned to the private sector in the US, they are still not returned to US citizens as a whole, where the money originated from in the form of taxes.

[RobRich]

Correct originel. The money is rarely returned directly to the United States government or citizens. This is a recognized problem with foreign aid.

In the case of Israel, the money is used to purchase military goods from private sector corporations operating - but not necessarily based - within the United States, thus a portion of the money may never come back to the United States depending upon the recognized nationality of the specific corporations selling the goods.

[MTAtech]

Robrich, what is the source of those dollar figures? I couldn't find it at the State Dept website you listed. I do know that Uzbekistan gets 500,000,000 not 8,750,000 and Turkey was promised $20B too.

[RobRich]

Those figures are from a research project I did last year. They indicate FYI 2003 Foriegn Military Aid requests. The final numbers could have changed for some countries since my project, as they were only available as budget request projections during my research period.

[RobRich]

About forgot, current numbers can be found here....

http://www.state.gov/m/rm/rls/iab/