Balance sheet

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America doesn't give aid to other countries out of altruistic reasons, but to promote its own interests. For every penny it pays in aid, it expects a dime back. This is the simple truth, and it applies even to America's closest allies.

One incident that took place in the 1980s is worth remembering, for it chronicles an unusual clash between American utilitarianism and calculating Jewish practices.

A soft murmur was being heard in the US, to the effect that assistance to Israel should be scaled down. Ariel Sharon, then a Knesset member, reacted with his usual panache, telling the Americans that they are the ones in Israel's debt, not the other way around.

Sharon then gave Washington a detailed balance sheet listing all the services Israel provided America over the years. He mentioned the facilities offered to the US fleet in Israeli harbours, the information Mossad gave the Americans, Israel's role in striking at liberation movements and anti-US groups in the region, and Israel's success in bringing Arab regimes to toe the American line. The fact that late Egyptian president Anwar El-Sadat once said that 99 per cent of the cards were in US hands wasn't lost on the Israelis.

Sharon then assigned a financial value to each of these services, concluding that all the aid received from America fell short of Israel's services. The Americans never again brought up the matter.

What Sharon said applies to every case of US aid. Washington may imagine that it is being generous. But the aid is ultimately a hoax, for Washington always gets back more than it gives away. And yet the US often tries to use aid to blackmail others.

Washington is hinting now that it wants to scale down its economic assistance to Egypt. In fact, however, the US has made incredible bilateral, regional and international gains because of its strong relations with Egypt, and those gains outweigh all the aid Egypt received since signing the Camp David Accords.

Now, are we willing to prepare a frank and accurate balance sheet and give it to the Americans to show them who owes what to who?