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U.S. Aid to Israel
United Jewish Appeal (UJA) The UJA was established in 1939, and, since its inception, has been the principal American Jewish fund raising organization. The UJA is registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a not-for-profit organization, and therefore contributions it raises are tax-deductible. In 1980, for example, the UFA-Federation Central Campaign raised $508 million; in 1982, it raised $567 million. Out of the $508 million raised in 1980, Israel received $261 million, or more than 51 percent.49 During the period 1967-78, the Central Campaign raised more than $4.7 billion, $3.2 billion of which was the UJA’s allocation, and most of which went to Israel.50 With the campaign’s average income increasing to more than $600 million a year in the 1980s, the total raised by such campaigns since 1948 is estimated at about $17 billion. Of this total, some $10 billion has been given to Israel. Yet many of the aid-recipient Israeli institutions are located in the new Jewish settlements illegally built on the Arab land that Israel occupied in 1967. Prof. Raanan Weitz, retired chairman of the Jewish Agency Settlement Department, said that “U.S. law prohibits the use of American Jewish money in the territories” and described the building of Jewish colonies as “a tragic mistake.” He also said that “the Likud-sponsored settlement projects are totally unplanned, unviable, and not only do not enhance our self-determination, they are done at the expense of the self-determination of others.”51 The UJA-Federation Central Campaign, which oversees the collection and distribution of funds, appoints each year a prominent Jew to serve as a general chairman. In 1985, Ivan Boesky was selected to be the general chairman. In 1986, however, Boesky was indicted by the U.S. Government for insider training in one of the largest scandals ever to hit the New York Stock Market. Ivan Boesky paid the government $100 million in fines and illegal profits despite his cooperation with the authorities. On December 19, 1987, Boesky pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison. United Israel Appeal (UIA) The UIA, as a link between the American Jewish community and the Jewish Agency for Israel, supervises the flow and expenditure of the funds provided for Jewish emigration and resettlement in Israel. While the UIA receives most of its funds from the UJA, it has been receiving support from the U.S. government since 1971. On June 16, 1987, the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency announced that it had spent some $600 million in the past 20 years on developing 152 settlements beyond the Green Line. Some $400 million was spent in the Jordan rift, Gaza and the Golan Heights, and the balance was spent in other parts of the West Bank.52 Other not-for-profit organizations, which operate in the U.S. and channel American tax-deductible contributions to Israel, include the Jewish National Fund, the Israel Endowment Fund, and the New Israel Fund. The combined budget of these organizations is approximately $75 million a year, about 20 percent of which comes from the U.S. Government. When all the funds raised by the approximately 200 private organizations operating in the U.S. are totalled, contributions received by Israel so far would be about $12 billion, more than three quarters of which has been contributed by the UJA. Israel Bonds Organization The IBO was established in 1951 for the sake of raising large-scale investment funds for the economic development of Israel. Through the sale of the State of Israel Bonds in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe and other parts of the world, IBO raises more than $450 million a year. In 1981, for example, sales totalled $432 million.53 The Washington Post reported in 1986 that, since its inception, the IBO has raised “more than $8 billion … about 80 percent of which is in the U.S.”54 Based on the figures above, it can be estimated that the total funds raised by the sale of Israel Bonds worldwide between 1951 and 1988 would approximate $10 billion, some $8 billion of which would have been raised in the U.S. American aid that reaches Israel through the numerous private channels is huge in volume and extremely important in terms of the task it performs. From 1948 to 1988, private individuals contributed an estimated $7 billion, private institutions $12 billion and the sale of Israel Bonds another $8 billion, for a total of $27 billion. In addition to the above sources, Israel has developed another reliable source of financial assistance that does not require much effort and involves little risk. Deposits placed with Israeli banks in Israel by U.S. citizens and by branches and subsidiaries of Israel-domiciled banks have been providing Israel with foreign loans on easy terms. Such deposits have been increasing steadily, especially over the last few years. Based on Israel’s overseas bank liabilities, this financial source might have provided Israel with another $8-10 billion over the past four decades.
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