On December 21, the United States Congresspassedthe COVID-19 Relief Package, as part of a larger $2.3 trillion bill meant to cover spending for the rest of the fiscal year. As usual, US representatives allocated a massive sum of money for Israel.

While unemployment, thus poverty, in the US isskyrocketingas a result of repeated lockdowns, the US found it essential to provide Israel with $3.3 billion in security assistance and $500 million for US-Israel missile defense cooperation.

Although a meager $600 dollar payment to help struggling American families was the subject of several months of intense debate, there was little discussion among American politicians over the large funds handed out to Israel, for which there are no returns.

Support for Israel is considered a bipartisan priority and has, for decades, been perceived as the most stable item in the US foreign policy agenda. The mere questioning of how Israel uses the funds whether the military aid is being actively used to sustain Israels illegal occupation of Palestine, finance Jewish settlements, fundannexationof Palestinian land or violate Palestinian human rights is a major taboo.

One of the few members of Congress to demand that aid to Israel be conditioned on the latters respect for human rights is Democratic Senator, Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, who was also a leading presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. We cannot give it carte blanche to the Israeli government We have the right to demand respect for human rights and democracy, Sanders hadsaidin October 2019.

His Democratic rival, now President-elect, Joe Biden, soon countered: The idea that Id withdraw military aid, as others have suggested, from Israel, is bizarre, hesaid.

It is no secret that Israel is the worlds leading recipient of US aid since World War II. According to data provided by the US Congressional Research Service, Israel hasreceived $146 billion of US taxpayers money as of November 2020.

From 1971 up to 2007, a bulk of these funds proved fundamental in helping Israel establish a strong economic base. Since then, most of the money has been allotted for military purposes, including the security of Israels illegal Jewish settlement enterprise.

Despite the US financial crisis of 2008, American money continued to be channeled to Israel, whose economy survived the global recession, largely unscathed.

In 2016, the US promised even more money. The Democratic Barack Obama Administration, which is often although mistakenly seen as hostile to Israel, increased US funding to Israel by a significant margin. In a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding, Washington and Tel Avivreacheda deal whereby the US agreed to give Israel $38 billion in military aid covering the financial years 2019-2028. This is a whopping increase of $8 billion compared with the previous 10-year agreement, which concluded at the end of 2018.

The new American funds are divided into two categories: $33 billion in foreign military grants and an additional $5 billion in missile defense.

American generosity has long beenattributedto the unmatched influence of pro-Israeli groups, lead among them American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The last four years, however, required little lobbying by these groups, as powerful agents within the administration itself became Israels top advocates.

Aside from the seemingly endless political freebies that the Donald Trump Administration has given Israel in recent years, it is nowconsideringways to accelerate the timetable of delivering the remainder of US funds as determined by the last MOU, an amount that currently stands at $26.4 billion.According toofficial congressional documents, the US also may approve additional sales of the F-35 to Israel and accelerate the delivery of KC-46A refueling and transport aircraft to Israel.

These are not all the funds and perks that Israel receives. Much more goes unreported, as it is channeled either indirectly or simply promoted under the flexible title of cooperation.

For example, between 1973 and 1991, a massive sum of $460 million of US funds wasallocatedto resettling Jews in Israel. Many of these new immigrants are now the very Israeli militants that occupy the West Bank illegal settlements. In this particular case, the money is paid to a private charity known as the United Israel Appeal which, in turn, gives the money to the Jewish Agency. The latter has played a central role in thefoundingof Israel on top of the ruins of Palestinian towns and villages in 1948.

Under the guise of charitable donations, tens of millions of dollars are regularly sent to Israel in the form of tax-deductible gifts for Jewish settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the New York Timesreported. Much of the money, falsely promoted as donations for educational and religious purposes, often finds its way to funding and purchasing housing for illegal settlers, as well as guard dogs, bulletproof vests, rifle scopes and vehicles to secure (illegal Jewish) outposts deep in occupied (Palestinian) areas.

Quite often, US money ends up in the Israeli governments coffers under deceptive pretenses. For example, the latest Stimulus Packageincludes$50 million to fund the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Funds, supposedly to provide investments in people-to-people exchanges and economic cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians with the goal of supporting a negotiated and sustainable two-state solution.

Actually, such money serves no particular purpose, since Washington and Tel Aviv endeavor to ensure the demise of a negotiated peace agreement and work hand-in-hand to kill the now defunct two-state solution.

The list is endless, though most of this money is not included in the official US aid packages to Israel, therefore receives little scrutiny, let alone media coverage.

As of February 2019, the US haswithheldall funds to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, in addition tocuttingaid to the UN Palestinian Refugees agency (UNRWA), the last lifeline of support needed to provide basic education and health services to millions of Palestinian refugees.

Judging by its legacy of continued support of the Israeli military machine and the ongoing colonial expansion in the West Bank, Washington insists on serving as Israels main benefactor if not direct partner while shunning Palestinians altogether. Expecting the US to play a constructive role in achieving a just peace in Palestine does not only reflect indefensible naivety but willful ignorance as well.

Ramzy Baroudis a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU). His website iswww.ramzybaroud.net

The US Money Tree: The Untold Story of American Aid to Israel - CounterPunch.org