May 23, 2012 Posted by Alcibiades Bilzerian
In 1975, the US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, secretly
brokered a deal in which the United States of America guaranteed
Israel’s oil supply in the event of a crisis. The 1975 Israel-United
States Memorandum of Understanding (see the full text below) required
the United States to maintain an oil reserve for Israel and guarantee
the shipping of that oil to Israel in times of emergency. This deal has
cost the United States more than a hundred billion dollars
since it was first enacted. The most troubling aspect of this deal was
not the cost however, but the stipulation that in case of an oil
emergency in which both the US and Israel needed oil, the US would give
its oil to Israel. Section 3 (b):
President Nixon seriously doubted whether Kissinger could be impartial on Middle East policy saying, “Anybody who is Jewish cannot handle” Middle Eastern policy. He was proven right in 1973 when Kissinger purposefully withheld news of Israel’s attack on Egypt and Syria during the Yom Kippur War for three and a half hours so Nixon would not intervene in the conflict. Kissinger then tried to cover up his treason by telling Nixon’s Chief of Staff to lie to the media and say that Nixon was informed immediately after the attack. This unfortunately was a pattern. On October 7, a telephone transcript between Nixon and Kissinger revealed that Kissinger was purposefully keeping relevant information from Nixon regarding Soviet perspectives on Middle East policy. And on October 23, Kissinger secretly drafted a letter to the Soviet leader without Nixon’s consent, and even raised America’s military readiness level to Def Con 3 without discussing it with the president.
Although the US gave up some extremely costly and strategic concessions as a result of Kissinger’s 1975 memorandum, there was absolutely no tangible benefit for the United States of America in the agreement. As a result of these facts, the 1975 Israel-United States Memorandum of Understanding was kept secret from the American people. In fact, the only reason the agreement is even known today is because the New York Times uncovered the agreement, which forced the government to quietly put it into the Congressional records. The 1975 Israel-United States Memorandum of Understanding was quietly renewed in 1979 for another 10 years, and may still be in effect today. Given the governments propensity to keep this arrangement secret, it is impossible to find out if it was secretly renewed for a third or fourth time. This treasonous pattern of sacrificing American interests for Israeli interests has not been altogether uncommon in American politics.
Most Americans are unaware of the fact that the US guarantees much of Israel’s public debt. For the financial layman, if Israel defaults, Americans will be on the hook to pay off their debt. And what does America get out of this arrangement? Absolutely nothing. These guarantees are part of the $15-$20 billion that the American government gives Israel every year in indirect and direct aid. This money has continued to flow during the 2008 financial crisis, even while growing numbers of poor Americans are living in abject poverty. To compound matters, Israel is in little need of aid, having weathered the financial storm better than almost any nation on the planet and maintaining its status as a wealthy country with more than 10,000 millionaires. One could argue that Israel is also one of the least deserving countries to receive this aid with their treatment of the Palestinians closely resembling the South African apartheid. As unbiased former CIA officers like Michael Scheuer and authors like Mearscheimer and Walt acknowledge, not only does the US-Israel relationship provide absolutely no strategic benefit to America, it actually hurts America’s standing around the world. If sacrificing the economic prosperity and security of Americans for the citizens of another nation isn’t treason, it would be hard to imagine what would qualify.
The treason does not stop there unfortunately. The Israel lobby in America, AIPAC, was largely responsible for America’s disastrous war with Iraq, as former AIPAC officials later admitted. A reasonable person must come to the conclusion that the Iraq War was unquestionably for Israel’s security. Saddam Hussein had no weapons that could reach the US, or close ties to terrorists that would have been willing to perpetrate a major attack on the US. Many Americans foolishly believe the Iraq War was for oil, but America produces 50% of its own oil and gets the vast majority of the rest from Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, and Nigeria. If the US wanted energy security it could have spent 1/50th of the money it spent invading Iraq and built an oil pipeline from Canada. As most knowledgable Middle East experts will admit, Israel was extremely supportive of an American war with Iran, and the same man responsible for the 1975 oil guarantee, Henry Kissinger, advised George W. Bush to commit more troops to the effort.
While it is understandable for Kissinger to have an affinity for his fellow Jews in Israel, it was unacceptable for him to use his political position to sacrifice the energy security of America for Israel. For that matter, it is wholly unacceptable for American members of AIPAC to lobby their government to give America’s resources to another nation, or to lobby for a war on behalf of another nation. These people should be held accountable for their actions.
If the oil Israel needs to meet all of its normal requirements for domestic consumption is unavailable for purchase in circumstances where’ quantitative restrictions through embargo or otherwise also prevent the United States from procuring oil to meet its normal requirements, the United States Government will promptly make oil available for purchase by Israel in accordance with the International Energy Agency conservation and allocation formula as applied by the United States Government, in order to meet Israel’s essential requirements. If Israel is unable to secure the necessary means to transport such oil to Israel, the United States Government will make every effort to help Israel secure the necessary means of transport.This is oil that would have been used to heat homes during the winter, power ambulances, and provide the fuel for tractors to farm America’s agricultural lands. To put this into perspective, in the event of an oil crisis, the fuel that Americans would need to heat their homes, get them to work, and produce food would go to Israel. This agreement very well could have starved tens of thousands of Americans in order to save Israelis if an oil crisis would have taken place.
President Nixon seriously doubted whether Kissinger could be impartial on Middle East policy saying, “Anybody who is Jewish cannot handle” Middle Eastern policy. He was proven right in 1973 when Kissinger purposefully withheld news of Israel’s attack on Egypt and Syria during the Yom Kippur War for three and a half hours so Nixon would not intervene in the conflict. Kissinger then tried to cover up his treason by telling Nixon’s Chief of Staff to lie to the media and say that Nixon was informed immediately after the attack. This unfortunately was a pattern. On October 7, a telephone transcript between Nixon and Kissinger revealed that Kissinger was purposefully keeping relevant information from Nixon regarding Soviet perspectives on Middle East policy. And on October 23, Kissinger secretly drafted a letter to the Soviet leader without Nixon’s consent, and even raised America’s military readiness level to Def Con 3 without discussing it with the president.
Although the US gave up some extremely costly and strategic concessions as a result of Kissinger’s 1975 memorandum, there was absolutely no tangible benefit for the United States of America in the agreement. As a result of these facts, the 1975 Israel-United States Memorandum of Understanding was kept secret from the American people. In fact, the only reason the agreement is even known today is because the New York Times uncovered the agreement, which forced the government to quietly put it into the Congressional records. The 1975 Israel-United States Memorandum of Understanding was quietly renewed in 1979 for another 10 years, and may still be in effect today. Given the governments propensity to keep this arrangement secret, it is impossible to find out if it was secretly renewed for a third or fourth time. This treasonous pattern of sacrificing American interests for Israeli interests has not been altogether uncommon in American politics.
Most Americans are unaware of the fact that the US guarantees much of Israel’s public debt. For the financial layman, if Israel defaults, Americans will be on the hook to pay off their debt. And what does America get out of this arrangement? Absolutely nothing. These guarantees are part of the $15-$20 billion that the American government gives Israel every year in indirect and direct aid. This money has continued to flow during the 2008 financial crisis, even while growing numbers of poor Americans are living in abject poverty. To compound matters, Israel is in little need of aid, having weathered the financial storm better than almost any nation on the planet and maintaining its status as a wealthy country with more than 10,000 millionaires. One could argue that Israel is also one of the least deserving countries to receive this aid with their treatment of the Palestinians closely resembling the South African apartheid. As unbiased former CIA officers like Michael Scheuer and authors like Mearscheimer and Walt acknowledge, not only does the US-Israel relationship provide absolutely no strategic benefit to America, it actually hurts America’s standing around the world. If sacrificing the economic prosperity and security of Americans for the citizens of another nation isn’t treason, it would be hard to imagine what would qualify.
The treason does not stop there unfortunately. The Israel lobby in America, AIPAC, was largely responsible for America’s disastrous war with Iraq, as former AIPAC officials later admitted. A reasonable person must come to the conclusion that the Iraq War was unquestionably for Israel’s security. Saddam Hussein had no weapons that could reach the US, or close ties to terrorists that would have been willing to perpetrate a major attack on the US. Many Americans foolishly believe the Iraq War was for oil, but America produces 50% of its own oil and gets the vast majority of the rest from Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, and Nigeria. If the US wanted energy security it could have spent 1/50th of the money it spent invading Iraq and built an oil pipeline from Canada. As most knowledgable Middle East experts will admit, Israel was extremely supportive of an American war with Iran, and the same man responsible for the 1975 oil guarantee, Henry Kissinger, advised George W. Bush to commit more troops to the effort.
While it is understandable for Kissinger to have an affinity for his fellow Jews in Israel, it was unacceptable for him to use his political position to sacrifice the energy security of America for Israel. For that matter, it is wholly unacceptable for American members of AIPAC to lobby their government to give America’s resources to another nation, or to lobby for a war on behalf of another nation. These people should be held accountable for their actions.
Israel-United States Memorandum of Understanding
(September 1, 1975)
The United States
recognizes that the Egypt-Israel Agreement initialed on Sept. 1, 1975
(hereinafter referred to as the agreement), entailing the withdrawal
from vital areas in Sinai, constitutes an act of great significance on
Israel’s part in the pursuit of final peace. That agreement has full
United States support.
1. The United States
Government will make every effort to be fully responsive, within the
limits of its resources and Congressional authorization and
appropriation, on an ongoing and long-term basis, to Israel’s military
equipment and other defense requirements, to its energy requirements and
to its economic needs. The needs specified in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4
below shall be deemed eligible for inclusion within the annual total to
be requested in fiscal year ’76 and later fiscal years.
2. Israel’s long-term
military supply needs from the United States shall be the subject of
periodic consultations between representatives of the U.S. and Israeli
defense establishments, with agreement reached on specific items to be
included in a separate U.S.-Israeli memorandum. To this end, a joint
study by military experts will be undertaken within three weeks. In
conducting this study, which will include Israel’s 1976 needs, the
United States will view Israel’s requests sympathetically, including its
request for advanced and sophisticated weapons.
3. Israel will make its
own independent arrangements for oil supply to meet its requirements
through normal procedures. In the event Israel is unable to secure its
needs in this way, the United States Government, upon notification of
this fact by the Government, of Israel, will act as follows for five
years, at the end of which period either side can terminate this
arrangement on one year’s notice.
(a) If the oil Israel
needs to meet all its normal requirements for domestic consumption is
unavailable for purchase in circumstances where no quantitative
restrictions exist on the ability of the United States to procure oil to
meet its normal requirements, the United States Government will
promptly make oil available for purchase by Israel to meet all of the
aforementioned normal requirements of Israel. If Israel is unable to
secure the necessary means to transport such oil to Israel, the United
States Government will make every effort to help Israel secure the
necessary means of transport.
(b) If the oil Israel
needs to meet all of its normal requirements for domestic consumption is
unavailable for purchase in circumstances where’ quantitative
restrictions through embargo or otherwise also prevent the United States
from procuring oil to meet its normal requirements, the United States
Government will promptly make oil available for purchase by Israel in
accordance with the International Energy Agency conservation and
allocation formula as applied by the United States Government, in order
to meet Israel’s essential requirements. If Israel is unable to secure
the necessary means to transport such oil to Israel, the United States
Government will make every effort to help Israel secure the necessary
means of transport.
Israeli and U.S.
experts will meet annually or more frequently at the request of either
party, to review Israel’s continuing oil requirement.
4. In order to help
Israel meet its energy needs and as part of the over-all annual figure
in paragraph 1 above, the United States agrees:
(a) In determining the
over-all annual figure which will be requested from Congress, the United
States Government will give special attention to Israel’s oil import
requirements and, for a period as determined by Article 3 above, will
take into account in calculating that figure Israel’s additional
expenditures for the import of oil to replace that which would have
ordinarily come from Abu Rudeis and Ras Sudar (4.5 million tons in
1975).
(b) To ask Congress to
make available funds, the amount to be determined by mutual agreement,
to the Government of Israel necessary for a project for the construction
and stocking of the oil reserves to be stored in Israel, bringing
storage reserve capacity and reserve stocks, now standing at
approximately six months, up to one year’s need at the time of the
completion of the project. The project will be implemented within four
years. The construction, operation and financing and other relevant
questions of the project will be the subject of early and detailed talks
between the two Governments.
5. The United States
Government will not expect Israel to begin to implement the agreement
before Egypt fulfills its undertaking under the January 1974,
disengagement agreement to permit passage of all Israeli cargoes to and
from Israeli Ports through the Suez Canal.
6. The United States Government agrees with Israel that the next agreement with Egypt should be a final peace agreement.
7. In case of an
Egyptian violation of any of the provisions of the agreement, the United
States Government is prepared to consult with Israel as to the
significance of the violation and possible remedial action by the United
States Government.
8. The United States
Government will vote against any Security Council resolution which in
its judgement affects or alters adversely the agreement.
9. The United States
Government will not join in and will seek to prevent efforts by others
to bring about consideration of proposals which it and Israel agree are
detrimental to the interest of Israel.
10. In view of the
long-standing U.S. commitment to the survival and security of Israel,
the United States Government will view with particular gravity threats
to Israel’s security or sovereignty by a world power. In support of this
objective, the United States Government will in the event of such
threat consult promptly with the Government of Israel with respect to
what support diplomatic or otherwise, of assistance it can lend to
Israel in accordance with its constitutional practices.
11. The United States
Government and the Government of Israel will, at the earliest possible
time, and if possible within two months after the signature of this
document, conclude the contingency plan for a military supply operation
to Israel in an emergency situation.
12. It is the United
States Government’s position that Egyptian commitments under the
Egypt-Israel agreement, its implementation, validity and duration are
not conditional upon any act or developments between the other Arab
states and Israel. The United States Government regards the agreement as
standing on its own.
13. The United States
Government shares the Israeli position that under existing political
circumstances negotiations with Jordan will be directed toward an
over-all peace settlement.
14. In accordance with
the principle of freedom of navigation on the high seas and free and
unimpeded passage through and over straits connecting international
waters, the United States Government regards the Straits of Bab el
Mandeb and the Strait of Gibraltar as international waterways. It will
support Israel’s right to free and unimpeded passage through such
straits. Similarly, the United States Government recognizes Israel’s
right to freedom of flights over the Red Sea and such straits and will
support diplomatically the exercise of that right.
15. In the event that
the United Nations Emergency Force or any other United Nations organ is
withdrawn without the prior agreement of both parties to the
Egypt-Israel agreement and the United States before this agreement is
superseded by another agreement, it is the United States view that the
agreement shall remain binding in all its parts.
16. The United States
and Israel agree that signature of the protocol of the Egypt-Israel
agreement and its full entry into effect shall not take place before
approval by the United States Congress of the U.S. role in connection
with the surveillance and observation functions described in the
agreement and its annex. The United States has informed the Government
of Israel that it has obtained the Government of Egypt agreement to the
above.
Addendum on Arms
On the question of
military and economic assistance to Israel, the following conveyed by
the U.S. to Israel augments what the memorandum of agreement states.
The United States is
resolved to continue to maintain Israel’s defensive strength through the
supply of advanced types of equipment, such as the F-16 aircraft. The
United States Government agrees to an early meeting to undertake a joint
study of high technology and sophisticated items, including the
Pershing ground-to-ground missiles with conventional warheads, with the
view to giving a positive response. The U.S. Administration will submit
annually for approval by the U.S. Congress a request for military and
economic assistance in order to help meet Israel’s economic and military
needs.
Assurances to Egypt
1. The United States
intends to make a serious effort to help bring about further
negotiations between Syria and Israel, in the first instance through
diplomatic channels.
2. In the event of an
Israeli violation of the agreement, the United States is prepared to
consult with Egypt as to the significance of the violation and possible
remedial action by the United States will provide technical assistance
to Egypt for the Egyptian early-warning station.
Accord on Geneva
1. The Geneva peace conference will be reconvened at a time coordinated between the United States and Israel.
2. The United States
will continue to adhere to its present policy with respect to the
Palestine Liberation Organization, whereby it will not recognize or
negotiate with the Palestine Liberation Organization so long as the
Palestine Liberation Organization does not recognize Israel’s right to
exist and does not accept Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. The
United States Government will consult fully and seek to concert its
position and strategy at the Geneva peace conference on this issue with
the Government of Israel. Similarly, the United States will consult
fully and seek to concert its position and strategy with Israel with
regard to the participation of any other additional states. It is
understood that the participation at a subsequent phase of the
conference of any possible additional state, group or organization will
require the agreement of all the initial participants.
3. The-United States
will make every effort to insure at the conference that all the
substantive negotiations will be on a bilateral basis.
4. The United States
will oppose and, if necessary, vote against any initiative in the
Security Council to alter adversely the terms of reference of the Geneva
peace conference or to change Resolutions 242 and 338 in ways which are
incompatible with their original purpose.
5. The United States
will seek to insure that the role of the co-sponsors will be consistent
with what was agreed in the memorandum of understanding between the
United States Government and the Government of Israel of Dec. 20, 1973.
6. The United States
and Israel will concert action to assure that the conference will be
conducted in a manner consonant with the objectives of this document and
with the declared purpose of the conference, namely the advancement of a
negotiated peace between Israel and its neighbors.
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