In the Feb. 28 Hatchet letter (“Unilateral diplomacy”), Jon Williams wrote the United States sends roughly $6 billion in foreign aid each year to Israel. This number is less than $3 billion, and that number is decreasing. Also, more than 80 percent of the money Israel receives is sent right back into the American economy, as Israel purchases goods from the United States.

Egypt is the second biggest recipient of U.S. aid in the Middle East right behind Israel. Williams argues that the United States should align itself with the United Nations and the European Union in terms of peaceful strategies for achieving peace. But it is in our nation’s best interest to continue to support the only true democracy in the region – Israel.

The idea of a Palestinian state is a viable one. However, with continued terrorist attacks against innocent Israeli civilians, the only certainty is the continued suffering of Palestinians. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has plenty of money to pay the families of suicide bombers, yet he continues to neglect his own people. If Arafat keeps repeating his pledge to die as a “martyr for Jerusalem,” neither he nor the Palestinians will live to see the creation of a state.
-Daniel Aires
sophomore