Over the last few days, social media giant Twitter has been cynically manipulated by Israel-bashers, who have twisted the US Congress’ approval of a nearly $900 billion coronavirus aid package into an opportunity to single out and demean the Jewish state. Focusing obsessively on Israel, while ignoring the many other countries that will be allocated American foreign aid, is a double standard and thus a form of bigotry that manifests in the spread of antisemitism across the Internet.
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From one journalist’s tweet to Hollywood
Walter Bragman, a journalist with 45,000 Twitter followers who has written for Paste Magazine, Huffington Post, Salon, and The Hill, posted the following on December 21:
The new COVID relief bill contains $500,000,000 for Israel. pic.twitter.com/oWJlLm1MzC
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) December 21, 2020
Within a 24-hour period, the tweet had generated 55,000 likes, close to 30,000 shares and hundreds of comments attacking US financial aid to Israel.
The issue went global when Turkish state-owned TRT World published a piece on its website, titled US House gives $500 million to Israel, only $600 per person in covid relief. Based in Istanbul, TRT World also broadcasts from Washington, D.C., London and Singapore.
Bragman’s tweet even managed to catch the eyes of those in Hollywood, with Actress Alyssa Milano reacting to the post with a tweet of her own:
Milano has a massive following of 3.7 million people.
Israel spending stays in America and other inconvenient truths
To set the record straight, the COVID-19 relief bill does not contain $500 million for Israel. Rather, aid to the Jewish state is included in a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill, a piece of legislation comprising the coronavirus aid package as well as funding for the US Defense Department’s 2021 foreign aid allocations.
And regarding Israel, nearly all military aid from the United States must be spent on American companies. Indeed, while members of the Twitterati with an axe to grind against the Jewish state feign surprise at the $500 million allocation, this is old news. Since 2016, Israel, under an agreement it concluded with the Obama administration, gets a total of $3.8 billion every year: $3.3 billion for defense assistance and $500 million for missile defense cooperation.
Related Reading: Understanding US Foreign Aid to Israel
Bragman, TRT World and Milano also failed to note that Israel is but one country slated to receive funding from the United States. While 2020 will forever be remembered as the Year of COVID, addressing American national security concerns around the world remains a critical bipartisan Congressional function.
With Iran planning to expand its atomic energy program, Washington has a vested interest in supporting its Middle East allies, including but not limited to Israel. Moreover, Gulf Arab states have grown increasingly alarmed by the Islamic Republic’s non-nuclear programs, such as ballistic missiles, drone capabilities, and their transfer to regional armed groups.
This is why Egypt ($1,300,000,000) Tunisia ($241,000,000), Jordan ($150,000,000), Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen will be receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid from the United States.
Beyond Israel’s neck of the woods, the same bill that has Bragman, Milano and other Twitter luminaries implying that Israel’s security is more important than American lives also commits the United States to assisting Afghanistan, Bahrain, Burma, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Greenland, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
$500,000,000 for Israel trending on social media worldwide
All too often, Twitter and other tech giants seem to be playing catch up when it comes to identifying and taking action against the dissemination of antisemitic content. As a result, this “oldest” scourge — under the guise of criticizing the world’s only Jewish state — is thrust into the mainstream.
The good news is that there is something you can do to stop this. Contact @WalkerBragman and @Alyssa_Milano via Twitter and let them know — politely but firmly — what you make of antisemitic and anti-Israel hatred.
