Debates over US aid to Israel and Ukraine have dominated
Washington this year, raising questions about its economic and military support
to various allies and whether the nation spends too much support abroad.
Opposition
within the GOP to foreign aid has been building, with Republicans arguing the
US needs to spend more on border security. The debate is likely to color this
year’s presidential race, and the reelection of former President Trump and his
America First campaign could raise questions about funding for some partners.
All figures come from State Department spending in fiscal
2023, with the addition of foreign aid appropriations for Israel and Ukraine
last month.
Ukraine
Congress allocated US$61 billion for Ukraine in a foreign
aid package signed late last month, following months of political fighting
over whether to continue backing the country against a Russian invasion.
The funding nearly doubles what the US has invested in
Ukraine since its war began in early 2022, bringing the spending total on the
conflict to about US$137 billion between military and economic aid, according
to the Kiel Institute.
Nearly all the military spending in the new aid package will
be spent on domestic arms manufacturers, resupplying stockpiles sent to Ukraine
to fight Russia. It also includes about US$8 billion for economic development
and recovery in the country.
The spending deal has split the GOP House majority and
nearly led to the ouster of Speaker Mike Johnson, after Rep. Marjorie Taylor
Greene and two other GOP members cited the aid package as the last straw in
filing a motion to vacate the Speakership. Johnson survived the vote with
the support of Democrats.
The Russia-Ukraine war has dragged on for months, with
Ukrainian leaders complaining of dwindling supplies as American arms
shipments from a December 2022 aid package ran out.
“For months, while MAGA Republicans were blocking aid,
Ukraine’s been running out of artillery shells and ammunition,” Biden said
when he signed the new aid package last month. “Meanwhile, Putin’s friends are
keeping him well supplied.”
The new US$61 billion expenditure is on top of about US$17
billion allocated in 2022 that was spent last year.
Israel
Israel
has been the largest recipient of US foreign aid since World War II. The
country has accepted more than US$300 billion since 1946, according to
the Council on Foreign Relations, with more than US$220 billion of the
figure in military aid.
Long considered the closest ally of United States in the
Middle East, Congress has allocated between US$3 billion to US$4 billion per
year to Israel consistently since the 1970s for its defense. Nearly the entire
sum is provided through a State Department program allowing Israel to purchase
US-manufactured arms and munitions for no cost.
That trend was bucked late last month, as the long-awaited
foreign aid package included about US$15 billion in military aid for Israel
amid its war with Hamas in Gaza. The package is the largest single-year
allocation of aid for Israel in at least 50 years, according to the Council
on Foreign Relations.
“We will always make sure that Israel has what it needs to
defend itself against Iran and the terrorists it supports,” Biden said when he
signed the aid package.
President Biden withheld an arms shipment to
Israel last week, part of a pressure campaign urging Israel to not invade the
city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Biden said the US will halt future arms shipments if
Israel enters the city, which Israeli leaders said Thursday it will likely do
with or without US backing.
Jordan
Jordan is the third-largest recipient of US foreign aid,
according to a State Department and USAID tracker of spending. About half
of the funds allocated for the country in 2023 were for military aid.
That
spending has already come in handy in the Israel-Hamas war, as Jordan joined
the United States in defending Israel against a wave of Iranian drone and
missile strikes last month. The unprecedented attack on Israel was
completely shut down by the combined defenses of the three countries.
Jordan also assisted the US in airdrops of
humanitarian aid into Gaza amid the conflict in March.
Egypt
Foreign
spending in Egypt has come under additional scrutiny in the last year after the
indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez. Menendez, who stepped down as chair of the
Foreign Relations Committee during the investigation, is accused of accepting
hundreds of thousands in bribes from interests in Egypt.
After the indictment, Sen. Ben Cardin, who became foreign
relations chair when Menendez stepped down, held back US$235 million bound
for Egypt, criticizing the country’s dogged record on human rights and press
freedom.
“Congress
has been clear, through the law, that the government of Egypt’s record on a
range of critical human rights issues, good governance, and the rule of law
must improve if our bilateral relationship is to be sustained,” Cardin said in
October last year.
Rep. Gregory Meeks the top Democrat on the equivalent House
committee, made a similar request weeks earlier.
The controversy comes as Egypt plays a central role in the
Israel-Hamas war. Egyptian diplomats have acted as intermediaries between
Israel, the US and Hamas, and Cairo played host to cease-fire negotiations last
week.
Ethiopia
Allocations to Ethiopia are nearly entirely humanitarian
aid, as regions of the country struggle with a deep famine and civil
unrest. The northern region of Tigray fell into an ethnic conflict in 2022,
with rebel and government forces facing off as thousands starved.
USAID resumed food aid to the region in December,
five months after it took the extraordinary step of halting its nationwide
program over a massive corruption scheme by local officials.
The rare combination of droughts, conflict and other factors
disrupting food supplies has made Ethiopia one of the largest recipients of US
humanitarian aid. About one-sixth of Ethiopians received food aid before
discovery of the food theft early last year.
Nigeria
Nigeria foreign aid spending is focused on health care and
food access. The US spent about a quarter billion dollars on stemming the
spread of HIV and AIDS in the country in 2023, according to USAID, as well as
another US$130 million on other health needs.
The country also has areas where food is in critical need,
sparking another quarter billion in spending for food access and other
expenditures filed by the State Department under “emergency response.”
Most of the support is funneled through non-government
organizations and charities operating in the country.
Somalia
Almost the entirety of funds allocated for Somalia is under
emergency designation for food access as the country continues to struggle
after decades of civil unrest.
About US$700 million of the expenditures are in partnership
with the United Nations, which has had a constant presence in the country for
decades amid a brewing civil war with breakaway Somaliland. Just more than US$100
million is set to fund UN peacekeeping missions in the country.
Kenya
In Kenya, US humanitarian assistance is spread between
health, food access and economic development. The largest expenditure is in
partnership with the World Food Program in the region, while the government also
invested significant sums into fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS and
supporting local agriculture.
Courtesy: The Hill
