Ask Haviv Anything – Episode 73: Is Military Aid to Israel a Good Deal for America?

Host: Haviv Rettig Gur
Date: December 30, 2025

Episode Overview

In this listener-driven episode, Haviv Rettig Gur tackles the perennial question: Why does America support Israel with military aid, and is it worthwhile for the U.S.? With a direct and candid approach, Haviv unpacks the economic, strategic, and geopolitical rationales behind America’s $4 billion annual military assistance to Israel. He contrasts U.S. support for Israel with support for other allies, examines its tangible returns, and explores the broader implications of American-Israeli ties, both for the U.S. and for the Middle East.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Understanding the $4 Billion: Economics and Perceptions

• Domestic Concerns:
  Haviv opens by acknowledging that many Americans worry about foreign aid, especially in light of domestic financial strain.

  • [00:05]: “We don't have universal health care. There's a lot. We're deeply in debt as a country. There's a lot of stuff we can't afford. Why are we giving money to a foreign country?”

• How Aid Is Spent:

  • “Very nearly 100% of it, well into the high 90%, has to be spent in America. These are $4 billion that get to Israel and turn right around and buy American equipment and produce American jobs.”
    • The funds serve essentially as grants for U.S. defense contractors, benefiting companies and workers domestically.

2. Comparing Aid to Israel with Aid to Other Allies

• Scale and Substance:

  • America spends “orders of magnitude more” on protecting Europe—about $60 billion annually—mostly via troop deployments and not direct payments.
  • European defense spending averages just 1.9% of GDP; Israel, however, spends about 5% (pre-October 7, 2023) on its own defense before asking for U.S. aid.
  • [03:20]: “The Israelis respect the American taxpayer enough to only ask for help after spending massively themselves, whereas the Europeans basically use it as a way to get around having to pay for their own defense.”

• Flexibility of Aid:

  • The U.S. could cut the $4 billion, but Israel would adapt by purchasing elsewhere or with its own funds, and the relationship would persist.

3. Tangible Returns: Case Study of Iron Dome

• Innovation Outsourced:

  • U.S. funding of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system resulted in American co-ownership and technological advancements that benefitted both nations.
    • [06:40]: “When the Americans signed the deal with the Israelis… there was a clause in the contract that the Americans would co-own Iron Dome… The Pentagon basically thought of it as we're outsourcing this to the Israelis as our R&D shop.”
  • Iron Dome is now deployed by U.S. forces abroad; this success could not have been replicated as quickly or cheaply by a major U.S. defense contractor.

• American Defense Industry Inefficiencies:

  • Compared to “deeply inefficient” U.S. defense giants, Israeli military R&D offers innovation and value.
    • “The Israelis are amazing and cheap if you're the Pentagon...”
      [08:30]

4. Strategic Value and Demonstration Effect

• Showcasing U.S. Systems:

  • Israel’s use of American-made fighters against Iranian and Russian-backed systems provided unmatched, real-world demonstration of U.S. military hardware.
  • [10:10]: “The whole world understood after those 12 days over Iran what American systems can do. And nothing… none of that would have been as effective as literally seeing it in operation.”

• Return on Investment (ROI):

  • Aid to Israel is unlike aid to Europe: “If you spend those 4 billion on European defense, you've lost the 4 billion. If you spend those 4 billion on Israel, you bought something.”
    [11:05]

5. The Deeper Bond Beyond Aid

• Why the Friendship Persists:

  • U.S.-Israel ties are not transactional.
    • [12:00]: “We are not friends because you pay us, because you help us to keep our defenses strong. We are friends because Israeli Jews know the difference between the world that was before American power and the world that American power built.”

• Contrast with Europe:

  • Israeli gratitude stands in contrast to European skepticism and criticism despite American support:
    • “...They know it more viscerally and more clearly than any of your European allies who manage to despise you while you pay for their defense for 70 years.”

6. The Hypothetical: If U.S. Support Collapsed...

• Regional Perceptions:

  • Many in the Arab world believe Israel’s strength hinges on American backing.
    • [14:10]: “…the only reason Israel wins those wars… the only reason these pathetic Jews… they lost to us, is that we have the great patron, America… It’s a much nicer story than we lost to a bunch of Jews.”

• Potential Consequences of Withdrawal:

  • Were America to fully abandon Israel, adversaries might be emboldened, leading to all-out conflict.
  • Israel would prevail, but the outcome would force its detractors to confront uncomfortable truths:
    • [16:25]: “And then our enemies will have a real problem, because how will they explain a Jewish victory shorn of American support? And then they will have to stop looking to all these crazy excuses and start looking inward at their own incompetence… and maybe that'll be the beginning of peace.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On U.S. Aid Efficiency:

  “What is essentially a federal grant program to certain American manufacturers and certain American companies.”
  (02:00)

• On Israel’s Self-Reliance Compared to Europe:

  “The Israelis pay through the nose for their own defense and then come and ask the Americans for help… The Europeans basically use it as a way to get around having to pay for their own defense.”
  (03:20)

• On Iron Dome and R&D:

  “The Pentagon basically thought of it as we're outsourcing this to the Israelis as our R&D shop.”
  (06:45)

• On Real Demonstrations of American Weapons:

  “The whole world understood after those 12 days over Iran what American systems can do. And nothing… would have been as effective as literally seeing it in operation.”
  (10:10)

• On the Deeper Nature of U.S.-Israel Friendship:

  “We are friends because Israeli Jews know the difference between the world that was before American power and the world that American power built.”
  (12:00)

• On What Happens If America Walks Away:

  “If we totally lose American support, those enemies will be incentivized to come for us… And we will win that war spectacularly... maybe that'll be the beginning of peace.”
  (16:10–17:25)

Summary Flow and Tone

Haviv addresses listeners’ concerns for American priorities with empathy, transparency, and humor, using both hard numbers and historical narratives to convey the complexity of military aid. The overall tone is frank, nuanced, and occasionally poignant, highlighting genuine ambiguity and sensitivity around American and Israeli interests.

Useful for Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

• Economic and strategic logic of U.S. aid to Israel, contrasted with aid to other allies
• Concrete benefits, with Iron Dome as a case study of innovation and cost-effectiveness
• Broader political and societal impact of the U.S.-Israel alliance
• Exploration of psychological and regional narratives concerning military support
• Clarifies that while Israel values the alliance, the mutual benefits run deeper than aid alone

For anyone questioning the value or function of U.S. military aid to Israel, this episode delivers a concise, insightful, and well-contextualized answer, setting the issue firmly within both immediate and long-term strategic frameworks.