Grant Smith

On September 14, 2016, the United States and Israel signed a "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) pledging $38 billion in "security assistance" to Israel over ten years. The agreement replaces a similar MOU signed by the Bush administration. However, the Obama administration claimed two key differences on its MOU web page. First, Israel is not allowed … Continue reading “US Aid Package to Israel Incentivizes War”

According the US Department of Justice, it is the US president’s prerogative alone whether Israel’s nuclear weapons program triggers Arms Export Control Act laws governing US aid to foreign nuclear weapons states. In a 52-page motion to dismiss, (PDF) Justice Department Trial Attorney Michell R. Bennett outlined the defendants’ legal argument for why US citizens … Continue reading “Is Foreign Aid Solely Up to the President?”

A solid majority of Americans would redirect $38 billion the Obama Administration pledged to Israel toward other priorities. The Obama administration last week signed an executive agreement with Israel pledging $38 billion ($3.8 billion per year) in foreign aid for fiscal years 2019- 2028. The majority of the proposed spending is for Foreign Military Financing … Continue reading “81% of Americans Oppose $38 Billion Pledge to Israel”

On Monday morning NPR’s Tom Gjelten reported the Anti-Defamation League’s recent challenges interfacing with peace and justice groups in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson and Black Lives Matter movement. According to Gjelten, the Anti-Defamation League arose in 1913 to "put an end forever to unfair and unjust discrimination against…any sect or body … Continue reading “ADL’s Challenge to Pro-Peace & Justice Groups”

A majority Americans say US foreign aid to Israel is excessive – either “much too much” (32.5 percent) or “too much’ (29.4 percent). The single-question March 10, 2016 opinion survey, fielded through Google Consumer Surveys, reveals only slight changes since it was first asked on September 27, 2014. (For details on sample size, bias and … Continue reading “US Aid to Israel Is ‘Too Much’ Say 61.9% of Americans”

According to an IRmep poll fielded by Google Consumer Surveys the majority of Americans (49.2 percent) believe that Palestinians occupy Israeli land rather than the reverse. The statistically-significant survey was fielded on March 9 in four nations and had a margin of error of 1.7-4.3 percent. The U.S. adult internet population is alone in North … Continue reading “Most Americans Believe Palestinians Occupy Israeli Land”

The percentage of Americans viewing Israel favorably has fallen to 59 percent. By contrast, nearly a quarter of Americans (24 percent) now view the Palestinian Authority favorably. Americans viewing Iran favorably also surged to a recent high of 16% of the adult population. These are the results of three IRmep polls of the U.S. adult … Continue reading “Americans Holding Favorable Views of Israel Decline 16%”

As reported by Trib Total Media, the U.S. Department of Justice is secretly negotiating what share BWX Technologies of Lynchburg, Virginia must pay to clean up toxic NUMEC sites in Pennsylvania. Whatever portion BWXT doesn’t pay of the estimated $412 million cleanup bill will then be presented to US taxpayers. Under this cozy scenario, NUMEC, … Continue reading “Department of Justice Wears Many Hats in NUMEC Affair”

Jonathan Pollard’s release from federal prison on November 20 has triggered a flood of superficial stories in the establishment media. Few of them address lingering mysteries or contextualize huge changes in U.S.-Israel relations. Pollard was charged with (PDF) “Gathering or delivering defense information to aid foreign government” in 1986. The spy used his courier status … Continue reading “The Jonathan Pollard Affair: Unanswered Questions Abound”

According to formerly top-secret and secret Central Intelligence Agency files (PDF) released August 31 in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit (PDF), the agency’s long retention of key information ultimately stymied two FBI investigations into the 1960s diversion of weapons-grade uranium from a Pennsylvania-based government contractor into the Israeli nuclear weapons program. The … Continue reading “CIA Cover-Up Thwarted FBI’s Nuclear Diversion Investigations”