Ignoring record levels of funding, GOP falsely claims President Obama is cutting aid to Israel
Today, the Republican Jewish Coalition launched an ad claiming President Obama has failed to provide sufficient security assistance to Israel. In the new online ad, the RJC says:
“The reality is that [President Obama] wants to slash American support for Israel’s critical defense. The facts are clear: President Obama wants to weaken Israel’s security just when it needs it the most.”
This claim is baseless. In reality, President Obama has provided an unprecedented level of security assistance to Israel. Here are just a few ways the President has stood squarely with Israel and assured the U.S.’s support for its defense:
President Obama’s budget proposal for 2013 marks the largest-ever aid package to Israel—$3.1 billion to assure Israel is able to maintain its qualitative military edge. His administration directly consulted Israeli defense and intelligence officials regarding the necessary level of funding.
Security assistance to Israel has increased each year since the President took office. The President fought for $3 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Israel in 2011, securing an additional $205 million to help produce an Israeli-developed short-range rocket defense system.
The Obama administration has forcefully objected to unbalanced and biased actions against Israel in the United Nations and promised to veto a resolution that would have inserted the U.N. Security Council into negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
President Obama also expanded U.S.-Israeli security and military cooperation, sending nearly 200 senior-level Department of Defense visitors to Israel in 2011.
The GOP has deliberately used one budget line item—involving less than 0.2% of our $3.1 billion-dollar security assistance package—to mislead Americans about the President’s commitment to Israel. But as Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said himself, “I can hardly remember a better period of support, American support and backing and cooperation and similar strategic understanding of events around us than what we have right now.”