US Assistance to the State of Israel: US General Accounting Office Report

VOL. 13

1983/84

No. 1
P. 123
Special Document
US Assistance to the State of Israel: US General Accounting Office Report
ABSTRACT

The release of the US General Accounting Office (GAO) report on US assistance to Israel has stung the Israelis and their American supporters more sharply than they concede. The damage that has been done to Israel's public posture in the US, especially in the politically unstable period into which Israel is now heading, is likely to be serious and permanent.

 This is not because of the specific classified information the unexpurgated draft report reveals. Most of these details have been known and widely published, if not in the US, then in the Arab world and in parts of the Israeli press. It is of interesto discover what details Israeli and US government officials have tried to keep secret from the American public on this occasion. It is also important in the American political context to have official US government substantiation that many Israeli claimsabout the war in Lebanon, Israel's role in Central America, the purposes to which Israel puts US financial assistance and military supplies-are baldfaced lies. However, this is not the first time we have had proof of the Israeli government's mendacity.