Originally posted by GRUNHERZ
Bozon but you forget how many military subsidies Israel gets from the USA...
Another common misconception.
The US military "aid" is one of the most destructive things to Israel. Israel does not get hard cash, but gets virtual money it can use to buy weapons in america.
The result is that Israeli industry is going bankropt since it's cheaper for the army to by from the US using "aid" money. Plus it makes Israel dependent on one supllier and the first thing the US does to bend Israel to it's will is to threaten shutting the aid down.
Also, the US can veto any deal Israel does with other countries. It can't even sell early-warning radars without US approval not to mention advanced missiles.
Another effect is that the US shuts down any development project that is going to compete with american industries.
the US is having both ends of the stick: "giving" money to it's own industries through a 3rd party, and making that 3rd party more and more dependant on america's "good will".
Israeli military industries bloomed in the 70's till the 90's, ever since France (which was the major arms supplier) gave it the boot. Israel retaliated with stealing the gunboats and the plans to the Mirage 5 fighter, that were supposed to be sold and setting up it's own industries.
Not one dared to tell the US "we dont want the military aid" just because what I mentioned before - it would be against the imidiate "security" interest. This is another example of how Israel declines slowly.
Bozon
