President Biden vowed on Monday to veto a House Republican bill that would provide $17.6 billion in aid to Israel, calling it a “cynical political maneuver” intended to hurt the chances of passage for broader legislation that would provide money for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the U.S. border.
House Republicans fiercely oppose the larger bill, which was unveiled by a small, bipartisan group of senators over the weekend. It calls for $118.3 billion in spending and would overhaul some of the nation’s immigration laws to deal with recent surges of migrants at the southern border.
That is simply false. Israel’s defense industry is one the world’s biggest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_industry_of_Israel
Israel doesn’t need U.S. aid. They just know they can get U.S. aid because they have the U.S. wrapped around their little finger.
It’s a great con. Get weapons for free from the U.S. while selling your own.
In your article it states that in 2022 they managed to export 12.5 billion worth of equipment. Elbit Systems, former IMI had a turnover of 5 billion dollars in 2021 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbit_Systems
In your article it also states that the main exports and focus are aerospace, in particular drones. But for a sustained war they mainly need missiles, artillery and tank shells and bombs. Of course they also need to be able to replace destroyed equipment such as tanks and artilleries. All of these need heavy industries, in particular steel and chemical industry. Israel has been importing iron and steel mainly from Turkey. If Turkey would continue to supply them is uncertain. They cannot manufacture all of the stuff by themselves. Especially as their sites are easily targeted in an upscaled war. The US are currently talking about an 18 billion military aid package. So 150% of the annual arms export rate of Israel.
If Israel goes to war with most of it’s neighbours it would be unlikely that countries like Egypt would allow for goods to pass into Israel. So the only way of keeping the war industry supplied would be by the Sea. But Israel doesn’t have a navy strong enough to secure the Mediterranian and the Red Sea. There is simply limits, to what a nation of 9 million people can do economically to supply their war machine.
Israel is too small to sustain a war without the US, UK or other big allies sending weapons and materials for weapon production.