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This conversation centers on Israel, lobbying, and US policy. Speaker 0 says he’s been very pro Israel and defender of its right to defend itself, but has 'no skin whatsoever in defending any lobbyist group,' and has declined repeated invitations to go to Israel. He notes mounting pressure to stay aligned and that he’s not on Hamas’ side, though his views have shifted since 10/08/23. Speaker 1 explains APAC is 'not registered under FARA' and describes freshman trips to Israel, meetings with government members. He notes that '3.8, billion dollars in funding for Israel' is an annual decision, that Israel is 'less than 400,000,000,000 in debt,' and that Israelis have 'government funded health care' and 'government funded college.' He questions why the US funds this given its own economic strain, citing that 'we buy money from your defense contractors' and that Israel can buy from Israeli defense contractors.

Speaker 0: Were I a Jew, I would be a Zionist. And my father pointed out to me, I did not need to be a Jew to be a Zionist, for I am. Israel is essential to security of Jews worldwide. Speaker 1: That this is not theoretical. This is not just about things that happen on Twitter. Antisemitism kills. Hate kills. Speaker 2: I come before you not only as The United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew. My grandfather, Maurice Blinken, fled pogroms in Russia. My stepfather, Samuel Pizar, survived concentration camps, Auschwitz, Dachau, Maidanic. Speaker 3: We have a common agenda to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and preventing Iran's aggression, maintaining the security and prosperity of this region, and seeking to expand the circle of peace. Speaker 4: On October 7, Hamas terrorists murdered nearly 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians. They perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Speaker 5: Holocaust. Holocaust. My grandfather fled Nazi Germany. Fled Nazi Germany. If we wanna create peace in the Middle East, resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, we don't need boycotts. We need business. We don't need divestment. We need investment. We don't need sanctions. We need startups. We need startups. They met with several Israeli companies looking to expand into The United States. Speaker 1: Actual, literal, no shit, Jews will not replace us anti Semites as very fine people. Speaker 6: I support Israel's ability to defend itself. Speaker 7: It's about time we stop those of us who support as most of us do, Israel and this body for apologizing for our support for Israel. There's no apology to be made. None. It is the best $3,000,000,000 investment we make. $3,000,000,000 investment we make. Speaker 8: two of us were brought together by Apex Education Foundation for a mission to Israel. We hear the call of our Jewish brothers and sisters. Israel was this place I had always felt an, I don't know, unexplainable pull. Speaker 5: And the Jewish people have been the recipients of boycotts for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Speaker 6: So I just had a frank and constructive meeting with prime minister Netanyahu. I told him that I will always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself, including from Iran and Iran backed militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Speaker 3: Israelis do not need to be lectured about the importance of peace by foreign leaders. Speaker 9: Why does Israel need our help? We need to get out of their way. Speaker 6: I've said it many times, but it bears repeating. Israel has a right to defend itself. Speaker 2: The message that I bring to Israel is this. You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never ever have to. We will always be there by your side. Speaker 1: He is a friend of the Jewish people by aligning not even with Israel, but with a certain kind of politics within Israel. And I just think that the American Jewish community are a lot smarter than that. Speaker 7: And even suggested breaking from the long standing US policies on settlements. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Speaker 9: I was one of the few in congress that said it's none of our business, and Israel should take care of themselves. Speaker 8: Perhaps he does not know that I am the child of a holocaust survivor. Perhaps he does not know that my mother lost almost all her family at the hands of the Nazis. At the hands of the Nazis. Speaker 9: Israel has 200, 300 nuclear missiles, they can take care of themselves. Why should we commit? We don't even have a treaty with Israel. We don't even have a treaty with Israel. Speaker 7: Were there not an Israel, The United States Of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interest in the region. Speaker 9: Why why do we have this automatic commitment that we're gonna send our kids and send our money endlessly, to to Israel?

The speaker says the United States is Israel's last ally besides the UK and that Americans lack perspective due to lies from the political class and media. Citing Haley's 2023 remark: 'Last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do. The only thing we should be doing is supporting them and eliminating Hamas. It is not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel.' They assert: 'Israel could not survive without The United States' and that 'every dollar that goes to the Israeli military from The United States is a dollar that the nation of Israel can spend on its own people.' They claim Haley was never asked to explain how that could be true, and warn that discussing geopolitics invites accusations of antisemitism, creating a 'state of perpetual intimidation' and no honest conversation.

Public policy reparative policies “don’t tend to be nearly as effective as people want them to be, historically speaking.” Jewish people have received reparations—“Holocaust reparations, for example, from Germany?”—and there was “a gigantic fight” in Israel over whether Holocaust survivors should accept reparations from Germany, with the view that it’s “allowing them to expiate their sins, and it’s allowing them to buy off the history for $50 or whatever it is.” The reality is that “cutting people checks rarely makes them more successful from the government.” What usually makes people more successful is “a determined attempt to become the things that the meritocracy demands of you.” US foreign assistance for Israel “actually is a bargain for The United States because Israel doesn't need the money.” We spend billions on bases abroad—“$6,000,000,000 a year” in Japan, “$5,000,000,000 a year” in Germany—which means Israel “has to spend all of that money… in The United States on military product,” making it “a subsidy to the American defense industry.” There is “a deal with Israel”—“intelligence sharing and also develops its own tech” and “the helmets that our f 35 pilots use, those are Israeli developed helmets.” “That’s because Israel developed technological add ons.” “So the idea that this is sort of like a zero sum… that’s actually not true.”

“If their government came out and said, we have a five year plan to decouple from USAID, would that help people's view of Israel if they said, hey, we want to be self reliant? Absolutely.” “We're now gonna decouple over the next five years and and basically transition.” “319,000,000,000 being sent to Israel over all these years, that's comparable to the amount we've sent to Ukraine.” “I believe Israel has a right to exist. I believe that they are the only state in that region with the right to exist.” “But why are we treating them differently than any other ally? Should we not be judging them, holding them to the same standard?” “Do you find it persuasive when the Israeli tourism board is bragging about how many gay pride parades they have in Tel Aviv?” “No.”

So right now, as we speak tonight, there are two THAAD missile batteries in Israel. That's one quarter of the world's total supply of THAAD missile batteries. They are American military personnel, and they are manning these batteries to protect Israel. And that shouldn't surprise you because since 10/07/2023, which is a little less than two years ago, The United States has spent at minimum $30,000,000,000 defending Israel. Israel is by far, no one comes close, the largest recipient of USAID over time and currently. They don't know how disproportionate our attention to Israel and our spending on Israel is relative to the rest of the world.

Why, the speaker asks, is the U.S. taxpayer money given to Israel used to fund social programs like monthly child allowances, income support, unemployment benefits, housing assistance, free health care, and free education through university? The speaker questions why the U.S. enables Israelis to have these benefits while many in the U.S. oppose universal health care and free education for Americans. The speaker believes it is inconsistent to fund these programs for another country while opposing them domestically. The speaker also notes that the Israeli government should not be allowed to do whatever they want without consequences from the U.S., given the billions of dollars in military assistance it receives annually.

"The House of Representatives just passed HR eight four four five, which channels American tax dollars to the Israeli Defense Force." "This is on top of the 3,800,000,000.0 we already give them annually and the 22,000,000,000 we've given them in aid since the beginning of this war for nothing in return." "Israel's military is getting more and better benefits than our soldiers in America who are left to die on the streets from homelessness, opioids, and PTSD." "We are subsidizing the killing of 20,000 children dead in Gaza, 12,000 of them under the age of 12." "The IDF is killing one child every forty five minutes." "Both Democrats and Republicans passed this bill, and only 10 members of Congress don't take money from AIPAC between the left and the right." "If you're not angry, you're enslaved."

I've found some questionable expenditures by USAID, like the $3,000,000 given to a rap artist in Gaza who was producing anti-Israel, anti-Semitic songs. Is that really the best way to use American taxpayer money? I don't think so. During tomorrow's hearing, we will be addressing this issue, as well as the fact that the woke ideology that USAID is pushing in various parts of the world is not welcomed.

"it's not antisemitic to talk about this, and it's not antisemitic to question any foreign country's government secular government, including Israel." "We fund a lot of other countries' borders better than we fund our own." "it's over $800,000,000,000,000, actually, close to 900,000,000,000,000 is the total bill." "the 500,000,000 for Israel." "They already received $3,400,000,000 annually every single year through the State Department." "Taiwan for 500,000,000 and for Jordan for 500,000,000 as well." "There's 15,000,000 in there for AIDS prevention education activities." "America's broke. We're $37,000,000,000,000 in debt." "we just can't pay for the world anymore." "Not being an isolationist. That's actually being smart and serving the people that that pay for all of this stuff and have been chained into 37,000,000,000,000 in debt." "And that's not being mean to foreign people and foreign countries, but America's broke."

Speaker 0 argues that on a public policy level, reparative policies are not as effective as people want. He cites Holocaust reparations from Germany as an example, noting there was a huge debate in Israel over whether survivors should accept reparations, with the view that accepting payments could be seen as expiating past sins or buying off history. He asserts that reparations are not the reason Israel has become economically successful; rather, success comes from a determined effort to meet the meritocratic standards of success. He then discusses US foreign assistance to Israel, calling it a bargain for the United States because Israel “doesn’t need the money,” and contrasts this with other fiscal considerations. He mentions a claim that the black community would gladly take foreign assistance, though he notes he cannot speak for them. He provides a related financial context: “it’s like $3,000,000,000 a year” in some form of aid, and adds comparative U.S. military expenditure on bases abroad—“we spend $6,000,000,000 a year on our military bases in Japan, $5,000,000,000 a year on our military bases in Germany.” He emphasizes that a substantial amount of U.S. money helps other countries and underlines that Israel does not simply receive money but receives military product produced in the United States. The speaker explains that the relationship includes intelligence sharing and Israel’s development of its own technology, which the U.S. benefits from through disseminating tech they develop. He gives a concrete example: helmets used by F-35 pilots, noting these are Israeli-developed helmets, illustrating technology add-ons that the U.S. can leverage. He insists that the notion of a zero-sum dynamic—money sent out with nothing in return—is inaccurate, because the arrangement yields reciprocal benefits through defense collaboration and technology development.

Israel receives significant economic and military aid from the US, even when it takes actions that the US opposes. The usual explanation for this support is that Israel is a strategic asset and a democracy that shares American values. However, these arguments do not fully justify the extent of aid provided. While Israel is a democracy, its treatment of Arabs and its colonization of the West Bank contradict American values. The historical case for Israel's existence based on anti-Semitism does not warrant unconditional support. The main reason for Israel's privileged position is believed to be the influence of the Israel lobby.

Speaker argues that "Israel's really last remaining ally of size other than The UK is The United States" and that the relationship carries a "huge cost," while Americans "marinate in lies" about it from "our political class" and the media. Blame is placed on "our elected leaders" who "continuously lie to us about the nature of this relationship, its significance, and they do it generationally." Citing Nikki Haley's 2023 debate, he notes: "Last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do... The only thing we should be doing is supporting them and eliminating Hamas. It is not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel." He asserts: "Israel could not survive without The United States." "Every dollar that goes to the Israeli military from The United States is a dollar that the nation of Israel can spend on its own people." "There is no world in which America needs Israel more than Israel needs The United States." He laments a "state of perpetual intimidation" that prevents an honest conversation.

Why are we, as American taxpayers, funding social programs in Israel that many Americans oppose here at home? With our tax dollars, Israel can provide its citizens with monthly child allowances, income support, unemployment benefits, housing assistance, free healthcare, and free education through university. Yet, many of us are against universal healthcare and free education in our own country. It doesn't make sense to me that we can fund these things for Israelis but not for our own people. And this doesn't even consider the military assistance we provide, which seems to allow Israel to act without consequences, despite our financial support.

The U.S. has contributed more to Israel's defense budget than Israel itself in the last three years. This year, the U.S. gave nearly $3.1 billion to Israel, making it the top recipient of American foreign aid. This occurs while many Americans struggle with finances, senior citizens can't afford medications, veterans are underserved, and schools are closing. Israel ranks among the top 30 richest countries, yet receives a large lump sum of aid upfront, allowing it to accumulate interest while the U.S. pays interest on the borrowed money. Additionally, the U.S. gives billions to Egypt and Jordan to discourage them from opposing Israeli policies, adding to the financial burden. With presidential elections approaching and promises to cut spending to address the $16 trillion debt, some argue the U.S. should prioritize its own needs.

Israel is a democracy and an ally. One speaker believes Israel has a powerful stranglehold on the American government, controlling members of the House and Senate. They claim Israel has the U.S. involved in wars of little or no interest, bankrupting the nation and resulting in American children returning in body bags. The speaker asserts that Israel controls much of U.S. foreign and domestic policy, influencing the media and commerce, and that they "own the congress." They allege Wolfowitz, as under secretary of defense, manipulated President Bush to go back into Iraq and pushed to move into Iran. When asked if they are an anti-Semite, the speaker denies it, stating that this is what they will say. They claim the U.S. has a one-sided foreign policy in the Mideast, alienating Arabs who then export violence to America. They state Israel gets approximately $15 billion a year from American taxpayers, which is $30,000 for every man, woman, and child.

Speaker argues the United States is Israel's last large ally besides the UK, with a large cost and limited perspective due to lies from the political class and media. They blame U.S. elected leaders for decades of misrepresentation. Citing Nikki Haley's 2023 Republican primary debate, the quote: "Last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do. The only thing we should be doing is supporting them and eliminating Hamas. It is not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel." The speaker contends this is inverted: "Israel could not survive without The United States." American backing funds Israeli wars and social services; "every dollar that goes to the Israeli military from The United States is a dollar that the nation of Israel can spend on its own people." Haley wasn't asked to explain, and questioning geopolitics is feared as antisemitic, leading to "a state of perpetual intimidation" and "We have not had an honest conversation about this ever."

"In the past three years, Americans have paid more for Israel's defense budget than Israelis themselves, according to the Israeli army's former chief of staff." "The United States gave nearly $3,100,000,000 to Israel this year, making it the number one contributor of American foreign aid." "And yet during this time, we're giving a huge amount of money to Israel." "Israel ranks among the top 30 richest countries in the world, while some of the poorest countries only see a fraction of that amount in USAID." "According to the Congressional Research Center, once dispersed, Israel's military aid is transferred to an interest bearing account with the Federal Reserve Bank." "This means Americans are paying interest on the billions of dollars given to Israel, while Israel accumulates interest on those same billions."

Israel is the largest recipient of American aid and military support because the House of Rothschild takes money from the United States and gives it to Israel, which is also of the House of Rothschild. The House of Rothschild controls the countries of the European Union, which is why Israel is not questioned about its nuclear capabilities and gets away with mass murder repeatedly. When the same force controls all these different agencies, they will be coordinated. That's why Israel gets away with what it gets away with. If people think that's antisemitic, they're wrong; antisemitic means anti-Arab.

Did you know that in Israel when you have a baby you get a check and then that baby gets a check every month until it's 18 put into the mother's bank account? It's our tax dollars.

Speaker claims: "Israel has an overwhelming lobby over the United States government, and we have unconditionally supported them." He cites "BB Netanyahu came to our congress in the nineties, told us a list of countries that we need to take out. Some were Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, etcetera." He adds "Through those wars, we have lost trillions of dollars" and "We have lost American servicemen." He asserts "They don't teach about the USS Liberty, where Israel literally came, blew up an American ship because they want us to get in their war with, Egypt and they don't teach that in school." He asks "Why is there this societal taboo around criticisms of Israel? For example, APAC doesn't have to register as a foreign lobby, but like the Australia lobby does. And the it just That should be changed. I That should be corrected." Finally, "Look. I I am not gonna say Israel should have any special privileges. None."

More trouble, no one has caused more harm, no one has caused more wars in my lifetime than Israel. Israel is not our ally. At this point, they are our enemy. They take money from us. They incriminate us to the whole world. They implicate us in their immoral war crimes. No one has hurt this country more than Israel has. Israel is our top enemy. Enemy.

Investing $3 billion in Israel is the best decision we make. We shouldn't apologize for supporting Israel in this body. It's a crucial investment for the United States. In fact, if Israel didn't exist, the US would have to create it to safeguard its interests in the Middle East.

We should not be spending money to support Israel. Our aid should not be going towards building a fort for them. We need to focus on our own interests and not waste resources on humanitarian aid.

Speaker 0: Do we need this connection with Israel? What is it? No one ever explains what it's for. I feel like. Right? That would help everybody have a much better understanding, you know, because it starts to feel like America is just a shell company, an LLC for Israel. That's what it starts to feel like a lot of times, you know? Do you feel like that that's realistic, or do you feel like that that's off base? Speaker 1: I would I wouldn't send them a dime. Like, that's my position. I don't think whatever we're getting isn't worth it.