"As we work to reduce wasteful government spending," wrote Sen. Marco Rubio in a letter to Mitch McConnell on Thursday, "we recognize that providing for the national defense is a constitutional responsibility of the federal government. Therefore, we must continue to prioritize the security of our nation and the security of our allies, including Israel."
In other words: Slash, slash, slash the budget, but hands off our $3 billion in Israeli military aid.
There are approximately four reasons that a given politician might support our outsized aid to Israel, and sometimes it's fun to figure out which politician supports it for which reason. The reasons are, in no particular order:
- A love of Israel's democratic, tolerant, and secular character.
- A desire to see Jerusalem reclaimed by Jews, the Third Temple constructed, and the Christian End Times hastened.
- A general dislike of Palestinians and/or Islam.
- A desire to get re-elected.
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I'd like to think Marco Rubio is in love with Israel for reason number one, but I don't know if there's anybody left in American politics who sees tolerance and secularism as anything other than buzzwords for Nazi/commie/fasco/uterusianism. Marco's a nice guy, so I'm guessing number three's out, and he doesn't seem crazy, so number two's a nonstarter. Which leaves us with number four. What do you think?
It's worth noting, per the above-linked article, that Rand Paul has announced his desire to see all foreign aid eliminated, including that to Israel. Which just goes to show you: Sometimes, honest-to-goodness idealism is way the hell scarier than old-fashioned political cynicism.
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