JERUSALEM — Jack Kemp, the newly appointed running mate of Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, called last month for Israel to end its reliance on foreign aid.
“By investing its own material resources back into Israeli individuals, families and businesses, the government can eventually end its dependence on foreign aid, foster economic growth, and guarantee Israelis their own freedom and independence,” he wrote in the introduction to a paper by the Jerusalem-based Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies.
During his visit to the United States last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received resounding approval when he announced, in a speech to Congress, his four-year goal of phasing out an annual $1.2 billion of non-military U.S. economic aid.
“There can be no greater tribute to America’s long-standing economic aid to Israel than for us to be able to say: `We are going to achieve economic independence,'” Netanyahu said.
Kemp does not say the United States should actively begin cutting aid to Israel, but one former Israeli diplomat in Washington said last month that Netanyahu’s speech pre-empted such a move.
In the paper, Kemp says the economic status quo in Israel comprises intrusive tax policies, government protection of monopolies and cartels, and the need to bail out “bankrupt socialist institutions.”
The outcome of the May elections brought about a positive opportunity for thorough economic reform, according to Kemp.
“The solution is to unleash the productive energies and genius of the Israeli people in order to build a robust domestic economy that will make it possible to eliminate the counterproductive dependency on foreign aid,” writes Kemp.