FURTHER - Israeli officials are said to be furious the U.S. inadvertently revealed over 1,000 pages of classified Israeli plans -
including not just location but details like plumbing and electrical specs - for a U.S.-funded, $25 million, state-of-the art missile base to house Israel's new Arrow 3 defense system.
The leak, published in contractor bidding documents required in all Defense Department projects, was blasted by Israeli military officials as "shocking."
More shocking, though, is the scarcity of those questioning why America is building these things for Israel in the first place. Since 1998, the U.S. has constructed about $500 million in Israeli military facilities; since Israel's founding, we have given it over $233 billion in aid; just think what that money could have bought.
(Abby Zimet has edited CD's Further column since 2008. A longtime, award-winning journalist who came of political age during the Vietnam War, she has long been involved in women's, labor, anti-war, social justice and refugee rights issues. This column was posted first at CommonDreams.org)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 46
Pub: June 7, 2013