By VICTOR PERLO es recent role as chief sup- plier of munitions to Israel is in the focus of attention. So-also is the buddy- buddy mutual support of the Israeli and U.S. Governments fpr one another’s wars against Arabs and Vietnamese, respec- tively. Perhaps most decisive, and least pub- licized, is U.S. economic aid to Israel. At a time when the U.S..is cutting down on all its foreign aid programs, real and in quotation marks, aid to Israel is expand- ing. It amounts to between $500 and $1,000 per year for every Israeli family (not that the ordinary Israelis get it, of course). Per capita aid to Israel exceeds that to any other country in the world. The United States almost wholly fi- nances the Israeli war effort, as well as the domestic economic expansion within Israel. It covers, in one form or another, most of Israel’s all-time record trade de- ficit of $550 million last year, .equal to one-sixth of Israel’s national income! What doesn’t come from the United States comes mainly from West Germany — but that’s another story. Here are details of U.S. economic and - financial aid to Israel: Last year the sale of Israeli bonds in the U.S. reached $160 million, and for this year the goal is $250 million. The bulk is contributed by rich American capital- ists, although a significant amount is col- lected from middle-class people. Well, readers could say, this may be contributed by Jewish capitalists, but not by the American capitalist class as a whole. True, most of the American bond buyers are Jewish, but big capital held by Jews is inextricably interlocked with the entire American financial superstruc- ture. Jewish financial tycoons have never made any really big moves in opposition to or without the support of the dominant financial groupings. And, as we shall see, plenty of money goes to Israel in other ways from non-Jewish American capital- ists. The Agriculture Department early in March issued supplementary allot- ments to Israel for the purchase of 24,000 metric tons of corn and 34,000 metric tons of sorghum under the PL480 program (Foreign Aid Program) which spares Is- rael most of the foreign currency other- wise required. This brings the total for the year to date to 62,000 tons of corn and 177,000 tons of sorghum. Tens of millions of dollars are involved in this assistance, paid for out of the dollars of U.S. taxpay- ers, and used also by the food monopol- ies as part of the strategy for jacking up food prices at home. : The Skyhawk planes sent to Israel in the past, and the Phantoms currently being shipped at the rate of four a month, are only paid for partly in cash. The rest is financed by U.S. Government credits, West C ere! under the Pentagon’s program of credit for munitions sales. One of Golda Meir’s major objectives on her recent Washington visit was to get an increased credit allotment for the Phantoms. 5 This request was met. In the state- ment delaying the formal granting of. more war planes for Israel, Secretary of State William Rogers announced an addi- tional $100 million credit, covering one- third of the cost of the 50 Phantoms still due. . During the years 1968-69 U.S. com- panies concluded over 100 investment deals with Israeli authorities, involving a gross investment of $108 million. More than 30 of the 500 largest industrial cor- porations in the U.S. are operating in Is- rael. Much additional investment is through government agencies, invest- ment companies, and state-private deals that are hard to unravel. The Israeli Gov- ernment gives grants-in-aid and long- term low-cost loans in Israeli pounds to these giants of U.S. industry. Many of them, such as Monsanto Chemical Co. and Baxter Laboratories, do not have a single Jewish name in ‘their top management list. The largest single investor is Holiday Inns, with $20 million. Its owners and di- rectors are solidly southern WASP (White- Anglo-Saxon Protestant) supplemented by equally WASPish Boston financial magnates. You can be sure they are not investing out of a sense of Jewish nation- alism, or any concern for the welfare of Jews anywhere. Motorola is -one investor controlled by non-Jews, but with some Jews in the management. It is a major war contrac- tor. Its chairman, Robert W. Galvin, is a director of Harris Trust, one of the key banks of the ultra-reactionary Chicago financial group. Galvin is a leader of the American Security Council, a top group of the military-industrial complex. His com- pany is a major exploiter of underpaid labor in U.S.-occupied South Korea and in the Mexican border zone. Much more is to come. The Financial Times of London reported that the Ameri- can Committee set up at the Jerusalem conference of top capitalists held after the June 1967 war had selected 63 new investment projects for Israel during 1969, involving a total of $71 million, of which 40-45% will be in foreign currency. An- other 19 ventures involving $50 million® are close to contract stage, while more are ‘‘in the pipeline.” : Needless to say, these corporations are not in it for charity. A report in the N.Y. Times (12/24/69) said that Dr. Felix Zandman, head of an electronics company investing in Israel, “called Israel one of the safest countries in the world in terms of political and so- cial structure,”’ and that Israel ‘‘offered a very favorable combination of low-cost skilled help and innovative technical Editor—MAURICE RUSH Published weekly at Ford Bldg., Mezzanine No. 3, 193 E. Hastings St., Vancouver 4, B.C. Phone 685-5288. Circulation Manager, ERNIE CRIST Subscription Rate: Canada, $5.00 one year; $2.75 for six months. North and South America and Commonwealth countries, $6.00 one year. All other countrtes, $7.00 one year Second class mail registration number 1560 PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JUNE 5,,1970—Page 6 ISRAEL GETS ‘AID’, U.S. GETS ISRAEL Y lil MLA (ti eave ’ taxes. But a week later taxes were ras brains in contrast with the United Stale and Europe, where skilled manpower ® expensive.” ; I As everywhere else, these inves aN ments are to drain profits out of Istaty | not to enrich it. But for the present, the) help Israel’s balance of payments moder ately, and hence help pay for the Wa against the Arabs. In the long rut, g | course, they more completely convé Israel into a U.S. economic colony, ¥! all of the negative consequences there®™ American capitalists also help mobil: | ize manpower for the Israeli war 10 ; tries and armed forces. According t0 ©” Financial Times, ‘‘The American ©? mittee is also active in mobilizing Saf fessional manpower to work in Ist from among both Americans and Israelis presently employed in the United Stat Thus, 800 Israeli engineers, scientists a technicians, including 300 from the a craft industry who previously could He i find jobs in Israel commensurate ¥™ 4 their skills, returned last year. 5 ; The story does not say how many Use { citizens were recruited in this way- aa sumably, the American millionaires sul : sidize the salaries paid them by the 6 raeli war industry, in order to make | sible this reverse “brain drain.” Bes : thousands and thousands of U.S. oF | neers and technicians being laid off DY | American aerospace corporations, . ff h may anticipate an intensified recruiliM campaign by their Israeli counterparts: As usual in a predatory war, the © ployers get the loot while the workél? pay in blood and in loss of living se | ards. The Histradrut, the Israeli 4" | union center, accepted an employer ernment proposed contract for 1970-11. 1s Under this agreement, the worker | this year will get an 8% nominal wage” a crease, but none of it in cash. Four ef i cent will be deducted for bonds. The ot 4% will be absorbed by higher income ‘he 1 social security taxes. In exchange government agreed not to raise indir, PA on cars, tobacco products, beer ant | quor, and some food products. he : Since the cost of living is going uP: ae real wages of workers will continue 1 reduced. This will continue becausé ©, the nominal . non-cash ‘wage inclé a granted workers this year i o compe 7 sate for last year’s cost-of-living rise. a | For 1971, the Israeli workers are P!? plus additional compensation if the © ? of-living increases beyond 3%. Naturay:, — social expenditures by the governm@, — are being slashed as war takes up ™7 and more of the revenues. ais | The growing ‘‘dove’’ sentiment 11 the i rael reflects in part the realization by" Israeli working people that this is just# other rich man’s war fought for lo0b ; | their expense, under the false claim national security. PEC is also part owner of the Ameti Israeli Paper Mills in isral.