When U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) arrived on a visit here this week, Israeli officials feared he would warn the government it could not expect to continue receiving $3 billion in U.S. assistance each year.
Leahy, who chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, has made statements in the past about how he wants to reform America’s nearly $15 billion foreign aid program.
And with the new American president promising to focus “like a laser beam” on domestic priorities, Israeli officials apparently expected the worst.
But as it turned out, the U.S. lawmaker did not broach the delicate subject of cutting U.S. aid to Israel during his talks here Monday with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Finance Minister Avraham Shohat.
Instead, he focused on other issues, such as Israel’s absorption of new immigrants and its use of U.S. aid.
Leahy expressed admiration for Israel’s achievements in absorbing Jewish immigrants from all over the world.
The senator said he could not envision a similar process taking place in the United States.
A clearly relieved Shohat came out of his meeting with Leahy saying that Israel had in the Vermont Democrat “a great friend in the Senate.”
At $3 billion a year, Israel is America’s largest recipient of aid.
Israel receives $1.8 billion a year in military grants, most of which goes toward purchases of U.S. equipment, and $1.2 billion of economic aid, much of which is used to pay back old debts.
Shohat said he totally opposed ideas raised by some Israeli politicians, including former Finance Minister Yitzhak Modai, that Israel gradually give up American aid at its own initiative.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
