Many pro-Palestinian organizations cling to stop the US aid to Israel. Their logic is, that since they can’t force Israel to stop the occupation, stopping the US aid will get the job done. I would argue that this is wishful thinking, and a rather irrational logic. The US aid to Israel is improving the Palestinian quality of life, not harming it.

It is agreed, that the US aid is not the reason of the occupation. The massive US aid to Israel started flowing only after 1967. Therefore, we have to examine its implications on Israel and the Palestinians.

There is no doubt that the US aid is a major reason for Israel’s screwing into the first world. Although Israel lags behind the West, the gap is not very big, and Israel can par or almost par nations like Greece, Spain and Singapore. Without the aid, Israel would have been a much poorer nation, and the Palestinians would have been barred from the privilege of having an enemy from the first world.

Contrary to the common wisdom, it is not that hard to find bright spots in the Palestinian experience: they are a major focus of attention. The eyes of the world are focused at Israel and them constantly, preventing totally disastrous actions. Also, the integration with the richest nation in the area have increased their quality of life over the years, and is probably the reason why they lead the Arab world in terms literacy and the percent of youth registered to schools.

Having an enemy like Israel is the greatest asset that oppressed people can get. Despite the world’s focus on the Palestinian plight, the Sudanese blacks, the Chechens, the Tibetans and others are suffering much more. The main cause to the world’s interest is, of course, the US aid to Israel and Israel’s relative prosperity.

Another factor that is usually considered as working against the Palestinians is Israel’s possession of advanced weaponry. However, it is naïve and irrational to believe that the Palestinian destiny would be better without them. The presence of this weaponry in Israel’s hands is reducing the Palestinian casualties. The 3000 Palestinian dead, or about 0.1% of the population in 4 years is not an astronomical number for an occupying army that fights in many urban battles. In Chechnya, the Russians have killed at least 100,000, and that’s from a population of not much more than a million.

On the other hand, when we look at how third world wars look like, we get an appalling picture. The Sabra & Shatila massacre of 800-2000 civilians within less than 48 hours was done by several hundreds of militiamen armed with guns, knives and hatchets. In Sudan, millions were butchered without F-16’s and other sophisticated weapon systems.

This proves that what determines the death toll in war is the moral of the armies, not the quality of the weapons that they use. The Palestinians will be the first victims of any attempt to hurt Israeli economically by placing sanctions or stopping aid.

There are reports of terrible crimes that the Russians are committing in Chechnya. But what would you expect from their army? How can one imagine the fighting of an army whose soldiers earn 7-8$ a month, serve far from home and sometimes don’t see home for 2 years and go on missions while drunk. There is no way that such an army would attempt to reduce civilian casualties.

The combat moral of IDF, as dirty as one can think of it, is the reason why Israel does not just slaughter the Palestinians and their casualties don’t reach hundreds a day. The moral is maintained thanks to the prosperity of Israel and its ability to maintain a quality, disciplined, well shielded and well fed army. Those who demand to stop the US aid and hurt Israel economically might not care about how will it affect the Israeli economy and society. However, do they really want the Palestinians to face drunk, hungry, undisciplined and embittered soldiers who have no respect for human life? This will only worsen their situation, regardless of the weaponry that IDF uses.