[Hugin]

As usual, Dr. Prager hits the nail on the head.

[BrooklynGOP]

Israel gets $1.2 billion per year in U.S. economic aid, almost all of which is repaid to the United States as service on debt. Israel also gets $1.8 billion per year in military assistance. Virtually every penny of it is spent in the United States. Compared to the cost of the present Mid-East operation, compared to the $130 billion spent each year on the defense of Europe, and compared to the $30 billion spent yearly in Japan/Korea, the contribution to Israel is a defense bargain. And there is an additional "bonus:" Over 300,000 American soldiers are stationed with NATO, over 30,000 in the Far East, and close to 100,000 by now in Saudi Arabia. But there is not a single American soldier stationed in Israel and none will be requested

[umgud]

I am pro Israel for other reasons, even though I do have christian viewpoints on this also. As a people, I admire their tenacity, their productiveness and their technological, science and cultural contributions to the world. And they are a useful and valued ally.

[MACD]

"pro-Israel lobby" and its alleged power over Congress.

Prager starts with Congress, and then jumps to . ….

President Bush received few Jews' votes and few Jews' money
Dick Cheney always supported Israel
What about Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
And what about Condoleezza Rice

Apples and Oranges

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

Does anyone keep a count of how many Jewish Reps and Senators there are?

We know exactly how many white, black, hispanic, asian, men, women, etc., etc. there are in our nation's legislative bodies. I hope it won't be an antisemitic question to ask how many Jews there are in Congress.

Right?

Can anyone help?

[warchild9]

It's become fashionable to rhetorically attack Israel now because one will no longer be accused of Naziism when doing so. There's a lot of pent-up frustration over Jewish control of the media, and, from what I hear from ordinary people, their consumption of our taxes. I usually counter by pointing out that Israel is an imperfect democracy bordered by the mass, insane tyranny that is Islam.

[LostTribe]

>hey believe the Bible when it says, in Genesis, that the Creator will bless those who bless the Jews and curse those who curse the Jews. They are, incidentally, quite right:

Howz that again? Where in Genesis does it say the Creator will bless those who bless the Jews? There were no Jews in Genesis.

[Seti 1]

U.S Financial Aid To Israel:
Figures, Facts, and Impact

Summary
Benefits to Israel of U.S. Aid
Since 1949 (As of November 1, 1997)

Foreign Aid Grants and Loans
$74,157,600,000

Other U.S. Aid (12.2% of Foreign Aid)
$9,047,227,200

Interest to Israel from Advanced Payments
$1,650,000,000

Grand Total
$84,854,827,200

Total Benefits per Israeli
$14,630 Cost to U.S. Taxpayers of U.S.
Aid to Israel

Grand Total
$84,854,827,200

Interest Costs Borne by U.S.
$49,936,680,000

Total Cost to U.S. Taxpayers
$134,791,507,200
Total Cost per Israeli
$23,240

These are the foreign aid figures from the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs. If you wish to know how much PAC money your congressman received just type in WRMEA.

[WaterDragon]

Prager is right about my support for Israel.

[Urbane_Guerilla]

Even atheists and agnostic Americans have to admit that our American values of individual liberty and individual responsibility are a consequence of Judeo-Christian ideas. These are the values shared by Americans and Israelis, and Americans and Europeans, and Americans and any other national who cherishes the rule of law as the foundation of freedom.

We wildly disagree on what the precise rules of law should be, but at least we agree to disagree based on certain principles, such a fairness, equality under law, and individual liberty.

In the recognition of those principles, we are recognizing the humanity in all of us, the imperative to treat others as we wish to be treated, and to be left free to do what we want not inconsistent with the Golden Rule.

That is why Americans do regard and should regard Israel with special concern. Israel against her hopes and yearnings is besieged by the chief opponents of all that America believes. Whether we as Americans want it to be so or not, Israel has become the cypher for America in view of our present enemies, not without some reason. If Ireland or Italy ... or France, those ungrateful bastards ... were besieged as such, America would be no less a friend.

Christians with special pleadings based on the Bible dilute the argument, if they do not specifically acknowledge their own special pleading when they support Israel, and simultaneously acknowledge the sufficiency of our non-Christian reasons for supporting Israel.

[jonatron]

bump

[Sloth]

Opponents of Israel and the Jews do not want to acknowledge that most congressmen support Israel because their values impel them to do so.

Nope, most congressmen of any stripe have no values.

[traditionalist]

He some good points. A lot of support for Israel can be accounted for by dispensationalist beliefs of most American evangelicals. But to deny the considerable influence of AIPAC and similar organizations is either dishonest or naive.