Letters to the Editor: The U.S.-Israel alliance is valuable, but still deserves scrutiny

To the editor: The United States has compelling reasons to maintain a strong relationship with Israel, but acknowledging the value of that alliance does not mean accepting that its current financial arrangements must continue indefinitely or without conditions (“What the end of U.S. aid to Israel could mean for America,” Nov. 12).

Guest contributor Nolan Lebovitz correctly points out that much of America’s military assistance goes to American-made weapons and supports U.S. defense contractors and jobs. But money circulating through American defense industries is not necessarily a net economic benefit to taxpayers. Those same billions could be directed toward other domestic or national security priorities. And Israel, a wealthy country with a sophisticated economy and its own substantial defense industry, is hardly incapable of assuming a greater share of its military expenses.

More troubling is the author’s attempt to characterize opposition to Israeli aid as evidence of antisemitism. These are separate issues. One can oppose antisemitism unequivocally, recognize Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, condemn Hamas, and still question whether American taxpayers should continue providing billions in military grants, particularly without meaningful conditions.

The most consequential omission in this op-ed is any meaningful examination of how Israeli military policies, particularly the devastating war in Gaza, have affected American interests, international perceptions of the United States and the humanitarian crisis in the region. These are legitimate concerns, not evidence of hostility toward Jews.

An enduring alliance should withstand honest scrutiny. Treating every challenge to its financial arrangements as an assault on Israel — or as a manifestation of antisemitism — does not strengthen that alliance. It weakens the quality of the debate Americans need to have about their foreign policy.

Jill Stegman, Grover Beach, Calif.

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To the editor: My colleague protests President Trump’s plan to end U.S. aid to Israel, yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes this news. It is not difficult to determine why.

As Forbes recently reported, “Instead of an aid package (Israel) would receive contracts from the Pentagon for research, development and production of joint U.S.-Israel weapons, surveillance, and communications systems. In addition, the industrial partnership plan would make it much harder for Congress to moderate or influence U.S. aid to Israel.” Trump’s proposal is little more than a bait-and-switch scheme.

It is painful to read op-eds that do not devote even one word to the behavior of the Jewish state. Although it had the right and duty to retaliate after the horror of Oct. 7, Israel has committed the equivalent of 60 Oct. 7ths and counting. Gaza is the pediatric amputee capital of the world. Hundreds have starved to death due to Israel’s frequent cutoff of humanitarian aid. Even as we speak, Gazans in dilapidated tents are knee- to neck-deep in floodwaters contaminated by sewage. Gaza has the pumps, but UNICEF says Israel is blocking repair equipment. Netanyahu’s predecessor, Ehud Olmert, called this a “war of extinction,” and the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest.

American Jews are taking note. A recent poll found that more than half of us favor a diminution or elimination of military aid to Israel. For Jewish thought leaders to ignore this grave humanitarian crisis is a moral abdication of epic proportions that Jews millennia from now will lament.

Rabbi Jason van Leeuwen, Van Nuys
This writer is the spiritual leader of Temple B’nai Hayim.

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To the editor: Lebovitz hits the mark right on. Israel spends most of its U.S. aid in the United States, creating jobs for American workers. Many people will be out of jobs if the aid stops. Are these detractors of the U.S.-Israel relationship going to take care of these laid-off workers?

Zach Samuels, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.