Economic aspect of continued American support for Israel

The foundations on which the American-Israeli alliance is based have long been described as the shared values between the two countries and Israel's popularity in American politics through its strong lobby in Uncle Sam's country.

Despite the importance of these factors, the economic benefits that the United States gains from Israel are no less important than the previous reasons. The relationship between the two countries is built on tangible strategic interests, and it seems that they will remain so in the foreseeable future.

Israel represents about 20% of US exports to the region

Although Israel represents only 2.5% of the total population of the Middle East, it consumes about 20% of American exports to the region.

According to US government data, exports to Israel amounted to about $20 billion in 2022, while total exports to the Middle East amounted to about $103 billion.

The US trade deficit in goods and services with Israel reached $10.7 billion in 2022.

US foreign direct investment in Israel reached $42.5 billion in 2022, while Israeli foreign direct investment in the United States reached $10.6 billion in the same year.

Israel enjoys a strong economic and technological presence on the American scene

According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Israel has helped the United States better compete economically, and has also contributed to addressing sustainability issues related to water and food security, renewable energy, and public health.

Israel also makes important contributions to America in the areas of intelligence sharing and defense industrial production.

Israel ranks first globally in research and development investments

Israel ranks first in the world in two key scientific metrics – R&D investment as a percentage of GDP, and the number of engineers/scientists per capita – as well as fifth in patents per capita and seventh in innovation.

It also ranks first in AI startups per capita and third in total AI startups, behind only the United States and China.

Accordingly, bilateral partnerships between the two countries on artificial intelligence will be essential to benefit from this transformative technology.

According to the latest data issued by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the percentage of spending on research and development in Israel amounted to 5.7% and 5.6% of GDP in 2020 and 2021, respectively, surpassing all countries of the organization, including America, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Bill Gates: The innovation taking place in Israel is critical to the future of technology businesses

More than 300 American technology companies have established R&D centers in Israel. In addition, Israeli companies seeking to go global often partner with their counterparts in the United States, resulting in technology exchanges and the creation of tens of thousands of jobs in America.

That's why Bill Gates noted in 2006 that "the innovation taking place in Israel is critical to the future of technology businesses."

Israel is home to the largest Intel development center in the world and its contribution to the company's global technology development is significant. For example, 7th and 8th generation Intel® Core™ processors were developed mainly in Israel.

Nvidia.. Building the most powerful artificial intelligence supercomputer in Israel

Nvidia revealed in May 2023 that it was building the most powerful AI supercomputer in Israel to meet growing customer demand for AI applications.

Gilad Shiner, senior vice president at Nvidia, said that the company worked with 800 startups in Israel and tens of thousands of software engineers to develop this supercomputer.

What is the secret of the strong alliance between America and Israel?

In 2022, American academic Walter Russell Mead said, "The theory that a secret cabal controls American foreign policy toward Israel is incredibly ridiculous."

“Israel did not develop strongly because of its alliance with America,” explained Mead, a foreign policy professor at Yale University. “It got an American alliance because it became strong. And that’s something really important to understand about this history that most people don’t understand.”

There is no doubt that an important part of the power that MEED talks about is the economic and scientific power that we talked about in this report.

Despite the major changes that the world has witnessed in the relations of countries over the past decades, the strategic logic of any alliance has not changed... which is mutual economic interests.

Source: CNBC Arabia