Israel seeks to “extort” more military aid from the United by creating a false narrative that involves Russia, China and Iran, says an American professor.
Dennis Etler, professor of anthropology, made the comments when asked about Israel’s demand for a large increase in the US government’s annual military assistance.
“The US in its contention with the rising power of China and Russia, wants to seek some form of accommodation with Iran which has a strategic relationship with both,” Etler told Press TV on Thursday. “Israel has seized the opportunity to create a false narrative about the threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon to extort more military aid from the US.”
American congressional sources said Wednesday that Israel has asked President Barack Obama’s administration to increase its annual military assistance by 60 percent from 2018 to 2028, an average of $5 billion per year.
Israel says that it needs more money to counter the “threat” posed by the recent Iran nuclear agreement, which it strongly opposes.
US officials said that negotiations on the new aid package were still in the early stages and the proposal has not yet been formally presented to Congress, which must approve the funding.
Washington “is more than willing to accommodate Israelis’ demands,” Etler said. “The US seeks to obtain its own geopolitical aims while maintaining Israel as a strategic asset.”
“For the US it is a win-win, while for Israel it is an opportunity to further shore up its control of the Palestinian people who must live under its jackboot,” the academic noted.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Etler described Israel and Zionism as “the cat's paw of US imperialism in the Middle East and the US serves as Israeli's sugar daddy.”
The analyst noted that the proposed increase in military funding for Israel illustrates the dynamics of this relationship.
He said the two allies have conflicts of opinion and tensions in their ties, but “the underlying unity is never held in question.”
“[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu can stick his finger in Obama's eye but they will then turn around and embrace each other, for they serve each other’s needs,” he said.