Does it bother anyone besides me?

[Occhidiangela]

There is no doubt that relationship with the United States is critical to Israel. But, with all the enormous importance of US diplomatic, economic and military help, Israel must keep its independence and also some reciprocity in this relationship," he added. 

Wants to have cake and eat it too. If ya want the dough, ya gotta obey the rules. Or if you want "independence" then good for you: aid be gone.

The Phillipines asked the US Navy and Air Force to leave in 1991. Leave they did. It cost some money, as in the annual inflow of hard currency stopped, but it sure made the Phillipines a more independent country in terms of not being perceived as a colony.

Independence has a price. Perhaps for Israel, that price is 5 billion dollars a year of no unearned income from the sugar daddy.

We shall see. Not sure which way to bet. We have seen tempests in teapots before, am curious to see what further rhetoric from the various lobbies in Washington on this score.

Occhi

From a blomberg.com article. Boeing is in a partnership with Israeli Air Defense company. Money goes to both, apparently.

The U.S. Congress has given $1.5 billion to Israel's Arrow program since the late 1980s, worrying that this ally was vulnerable to attack from nearby adversaries such as Iraq, Syria and Iran. Interest in Arrow development quickened after the 1991 Persian Gulf War when Iraq fired Scud missiles into Tel Aviv.

The threat from Iraq was canceled by the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Syria, Israel's neighbor to the north, has Scuds and is trying to develop longer-range missiles, according to the CIA. Iran has become only more menacing: Its Shahab-3 can reach targets from Tel Aviv to western India, the U.S. director of naval intelligence said last year.

At 80 billion a year for two years, I'd say a few more missiles might have been a more cost effective way to defend Israel from Scuds than invading Iraq. :P

Yes, that is a very narrow view or a complex regional security problem.

Occhi