Rand Paul says US can’t defend Israel if we are out of money, calls for gradual reduction in aid
U.S. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on Monday called for a gradual reduction of American foreign aid, delivering the message while visiting Jerusalem.
“It will harder to be a friend of Israel if we are out of money. It will be harder to defend Israel if we destroy our country in the process,” he told the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, an Israeli think tank. “I think there will be significant repercussions to running massive deficits … you destroy your currency by spending money you don’t have.”
Paul said it is one thing if you are giving foreign aid out of your savings, but it is something completely different if you are “borrowing from one country to give to another. You have to wonder how wide that is, and what the repercussions will be.”
The Senator acknowledged that he will probably not see an end to foreign aid in his lifetime, said he was “all for gradualism” and would start ending foreign aid to those countries who don’t act as allies towards Israel.
“It’s unlikely anything changes, but I think it is worth discussing,” he said during his first trip to Israel.
Israel gets about $3 billion a year in military aid from the U.S.