Biden’s foreign aid plan funds the Israeli military more than the international climate response
Speaking Security Newsletter | Advisory Note for Organizers and Candidates, n°81 | 10 May 2021
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Biden still has to release his official budget request for FY2022, but he released a preview with topline figures last month. Here are two excerpts from the proposal:
“The discretionary request meets the climate emergency head-on, providing $2.5 billion for international climate programs” (p. 25)
“The discretionary request fully funds US commitments to key allies in the Middle East, including Israel” (p. 26)
“Fully funds US commitments to…Israel” includes giving the apartheid state $3.8 billion in annual military aid—$3.3 billion in ‘base’ bilateral security assistance plus another $500 million for missile defense systems—as outlined in the ten-year MOU the Obama-Biden administration reached with Israel in 2016.
Per the Paris Accords (and science), US financial contributions to the global climate response should be orders of magnitude higher. Per international human rights law, US military aid to Israel should be zero. That Biden is prepared to fail so spectacularly on both warrants a unified response from the Congressional Progressive Caucus about what they plan to do once Biden drops his official budget request.
Thanks for your time,
Stephen (@stephensemler; stephen@securityreform.org)
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