Israel got the war.
America got the bill.
The U.S. fired more than 200 THAAD interceptors defending Israel during Operation Epic Fury. That's roughly half of the Pentagon's entire inventory of that system. We also fired more than 100 SM-3 and SM-6 interceptors from Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean.
Israel fired fewer than 100 Arrow interceptors and about 90 David's Sling interceptors.
One U.S. government official told the Washington Post that America fired roughly 120 more interceptors than Israel did and engaged twice as many Iranian missiles.
Each THAAD round costs $13 million. Lockheed Martin makes 96 of them a year. Replacements won't arrive until 2028 at the earliest.
Now here's the part that should make you stop.
Israel's defense budget is roughly $44 billion. That sounds like they're pulling their weight. What that number doesn't tell you is that the United States provided nearly $18 billion in military aid to Israel in a single fiscal year. Much of what Israel "spent" on this war was bought with American money, on American weapons systems, made by American defense contractors.
We funded their military. We burned through our missiles defending them. And now Congress is writing a $10.6 billion check to replace what the war consumed.
And while you were watching the war, Congress quietly passed Section 224 out of committee. It now goes to the full house. It would permanently merge U.S. and Israeli defense research, production, and procurement into a single structure, permanently, buried in the must-pass NDAA, shielded from the annual vote that currently gives Congress any leverage at all.
Israel got the war they lobbied for.
America got the bill.
And Congress is making sure we keep paying it forever.
That's not where I want my tax money going. How about you?
Mike
