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Aid to Israel
Introduction: US Aid to Israel
Since 1976, Israel has been the largest annual recipient of US aid and is the largest recipient of cumulative US assistance since World War II. From 1949 through 1965, US aid to Israel averaged about $63 million per year, over 95 percent of which was economic development assistance and food aid. A modest military loan program began in 1959. From 1966 through 1970, average aid per year increased to about $102 million, but military loans increased to about 47 percent of the total. From 1971 to the present, US aid to Israel has averaged over $2 billion per year, two-thirds of which has been military assistance.
Military Aid
Israel's arms imports mainly come from the US and, to a lesser extent, Germany, France and the UK. The US is, of course, Israel's main supporter and provider of arms. It provides Israel with $3bn in annual aid and in 2001 alone US arms sales to Israel were worth $2.95bn. Germany is Israel's next biggest arms supplier -- between 1996 and 2000, it supplied Israel with weaponry worth $765m. France exported major conventional weapons worth $50m to Israel between 1996 and 2000.
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