House Committee Budget has Full Aid for Israel

Tuesday night the full House Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2010 State and Foreign Operations Appropriation Bill, which includes the full complement of military and economic aid to Israel. The bill contains $2.22 billion for Israel, which combined with the $555 million being forward by a special FY 2009 appropriation, comes to $2.777 billion for 2010. This is the full amount for FY 2010 as agreed to in a 2007 Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Israel, meaning the Appropriations Committee does not feel Israel's intransigence over West Bank settlements merits any American rebuke. This will not go unnoticed in the Middle East, where it will be seen as the latest symbol of American hypocrisy.