ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 13, 1990                   TAG: 9003133409
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short


U.S. AID TO ISRAEL OUR GREATEST DEFENSE BARGAIN

ISRAEL'S military and political importance in the Middle East and its strategic positions stabilize that entire area, including the oil fields of the Persian Gulf.

Israel is a bulwark against the inroads of the Soviet Union. Thirty percent of its budget goes for defense compared to 7 percent in the United States and less than 1 percent in Japan. Israel's navy and air force are the major deterrent forces in the eastern Mediterranean against Soviet intrusion.

Israel secures NATO's southeastern flank without the need of a single American soldier stationed in the territory. U.S. equipment is instantly at hand in Israel for any contingency.

Only a fraction of aid to Israel stays in Israel. The largest share remains in the United States, where it is spent with American defense contractors. The administrator of the Agency for International Development estimates that every billion dollars of aid to Israel creates 60,000 to 70,000 jobs in the United States.

The defense of Europe costs the U.S. $130 billion, and $30 billion goes to the defense of Japan, Korea and the Far East. U.S. military analysts estimate that the United States would spend the equivalent of $150 billion a year in the Middle East to maintain a force equivalent to Israel's.

It would be more in line with reality if military aid to Israel were classified as defense rather than aid. American aid to Israel is a two-way street. Aid to Israel is America's greatest defense bargain.\ A. W. FINESTONE\ CLIFTON FORGE



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