Noam Chomsky - Turning the Tide U.S. intervention in

Free World Vignettes
In the case of Israel, US responsibility is obvious, given the massive
aid Israel receives from the United States, conditioned in part on the
services that it is expected to provide in return. The fact is recognized in
Israel. Journalist Yoav Karni notes that “The Israelis may be seen as
American proxies in Honduras and Guatemala.” In discussing the
memorandum of understanding with the US regarding strategic
cooperation, the well-informed correspondent Gidon Samet writes that
its most important features have to do not with the Middle East, but
with Central America and Africa. Israeli services to the US in the Third
World, he adds, were the prime topic of discussion when Israel’s
representative David Kimche visited Washington in early summer 1983.
“The US needs Israel in Africa and Latin America, among other reasons,
because of the government’s difficulties in obtaining congressional
authorization for its ambitious aid programs and naturally, for military
actions.” Israel aided the US through its contacts with Zaire in Chad and
the US has “long been interested in using Israel as a pipeline for military
and other aid” to Central America. US aid to Israel, diverted to Central
America, can thus serve indirectly to bypass congressional restrictions.
These are among the “secrets” relating to US-Israeli contacts with regard
to Central America. Furthermore, the Administration requires support
from congressional liberals for Grenada and other adventures, and the
Israeli connection can help materially here, given Israel’s influence in
Congress. 83 The Washington correspondent of the Jerusalem Post
elaborates, referring to criticism of Israel “for selling weapons to various
Latin American regimes—many of which are not exactly democratic or
enlightened”: 84
Israeli officials have countered by pointing out that most of the
sales have had the blessings of the Reagan administration, which
often has been frustrated by Congress in its arms sales to these
Classics in Politics: Turning the Tide Noam Chomsky
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