24 years ago Consulting Economist Thomas Stauffer estimated that between 1973 and 2001 Israel had cost the United States about $1.6 trillion in 2001 dollars. Twice the cost of the Vietnam War. That figure included $850 billion we lost to increased oil prices and lower production due to the ’73-’74 Arab Oil Embargo which was the Arab response to the US launching Operation Nickel Grass to save Israel from being taken over by Egypt. Egypt was out to reclaim the Sinai Peninsula after the ’67 war that Israel started.
Wouldn’t it be great to have someone like Stauffer give us a quarterly breakdown of exactly how much we’re throwing down the rat hole? Weapons, sweet-heart deals, trade deficits, loans and loan guarantees, Israeli war bonds, defending Israel from the United Nations, lawsuits for trying to crush BDS and free speech about Palestine, congressional junkets, shipping armored vehicles and bombs in a C-5 Super Galaxy that costs $100,000 per hour to fly… the whole enchilada in one place.
Without that we tend to fixate on the $3.3 bn per year package Obama gave Israel, and $500 million siphoned to them annually from the Pentagon budget, but extra billions Israel gets for every manufactured emergency are presented as one- offs. They slip by when they shouldn’t because they’re not one-offs. Israel always has an emergency Remember, Hand-Out Nation has been in an officially declared state of emergency since it was founded in 1948 which means on any given year our economy will bleed multiples of $3.8 bn to Tel Aviv.
Heck, maybe a good accountant could even explain how it is that, despite all the money and military stuff we gave Israel from 2001 through 2024 WE ended up with an average annual trade deficit to THEM of over $7.375 bn per year. In 2015 alone our trade deficit with Israel was nearly $11 bn.
There’s so much out there circling the drain. For instance:
*We’ve been paying Egypt not to fight with Israel since 1979. We’ve paid Jordan not to fight with Israel since 1994. Between the two it costs about 3.2 bn per year.
*We have an estimated $4.4 bn in weapons cached in Israel. That’s the War Reserve Stocks Allies-Israel (WRSA-I) ostensibly in case America needs it. We resupply that cache from our own depleted stocks as Israel wastes them bombing Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Tunisia, Gaza, the West Bank…
*According to Brown University’s Watson Institute: following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the United States government upped Israel’s protection money to at least $22.76 bn. This was $17.9 bn in military aid [with the usual $3.8 bn included] and another $4.86 bn for attacking Yemen [on behalf of Israel]. So, $22.76 bn divided by 51 weeks, means we spent north of $63.5 million per day just for that. Even that figure is too low according to Watson because of the Biden Administration’s, “efforts to hide the full amounts of aid and types of systems through bureaucratic maneuvering.” Report notes Biden Admin made at least 100 separate arms deals that were below the threshold requiring Congress be informed.
*Donald Trump took over as President on January 20, 2025. By the end of February, 2025 (40 days) Trump had approved nearly $12 bn in military aid to Israel. On March 01, 2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio used emergency powers to bypass Congress in order to expedite $4 bn to Israel, including some of the most destructive weapons in the US arsenal. These emergency powers are supposed to be used only if America’s national security is threatened and, if they’re used, the President is supposed to provide Congress with a detailed justification. There was no emergency threat to America and Rubio didn’t provide a detailed justification.
*As of September, 2025 Mr. Trump is pushing to ‘sell’ Israel another $6 bn in weapons. How Israel, with its collapsed economy, could pay back such a sum is unclear.
*Among costs that will never be fully known, in defense of Israeli wars we’ve deployed multiple aircraft carrier battle groups and a nuclear submarine, extended their missions, lost 3 of the most expensive jet aircraft ever made (one shot down by our own cruiser), lost about a billion dollars worth of drones, paid overtime, maintenance, repaired damage from the Harry Truman collision, etc.
*America has only seven THAAD missile interceptor batteries. Two of them have now been sent to Israel. They cost over $1.2 bn per unit, plus the interceptor missiles they fire cost $12.7 million and up depending on configuration, plus the 100 troops it takes to run each of them. In June, 2025 Israel fired 39 THAAD missiles, a quarter of the total U.S. supply, more than America produces in a year, and still got creamed.
*And look at the public sector. Since October 7, 2023 dozens of U.S. states and counties bought billions worth of Israeli war bonds, using public funds such as employee pension fund investments, even as Israel’s credit ratings are being devalued by the big three credit rating agencies, Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch. In the industry’s parlance, Israel as an investment has a, “negative outlook” and a high likelihood of future downgrades.
*Internationally, our bombing Iran, Yemen, and Qatar in support of Israel lost us billions in trade. And we will lose more as the entire region embraces trade with China, Russia, and India because the United States government has shown it cannot be trusted.
For these reasons, a forensic accountant to tally every dollar Israel costs America might bring us to a long overdue conversation about what is the goal and how long does Congress plan to keep paying for the world’s most insatiable welfare state.
Selected Citations:
1. US Census Bureau Trade Deficit with Israel
2. 10.07.2024 United States spending on Israel’s military operations and related US operations in the region, October 7, 2023-Septermber 30, 2024 The Watson School of International and Public Affairs. https://home.watson.brown.edu/news/2024-10-07/us-spending-israels-military-operations
3. 07.11.2025 Arkansas taxpayers loan Israel millions as the war in Gaza grinds on. Arkansas Times, by Jennifer Lenow. https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/07/11/arkansas-taxpayers-are-loaning-israel-millions-of-dollars-as-its-war-in-gaza-grinds-on
4. 12.09.2002 Economist tallies swelling cost of Israel to US. Christian Science Monitor. By David R. Francis. https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1209/p16s01-wmgn.html
5. 01.16.2024 The “War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel” Explained and Why Congress Should Not Expand It. Just Security by John R. Chappell and Sarah Harrisonhttps://www.justsecurity.org/91213/the-war-reserve-stockpile-allies-israel-explained-why-congress-should-not-expand-it/
6. April, 2025 Rubio bypasses Congress On Israel Arms Sale. Arms Control Association. by Michael T. Klare https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2025-04/news-briefs/rubio-bypasses-congress-israel-arms-sale
