When he signed the agreement, Reagan said, "I believe this new economic relationship with our friends in Israel will further our historic friendship, strengthen both our economies, and provide for new opportunities between our peoples for communication and commerce."

Block said in 1985 and 1986, when the Israeli economy was experiencing inflation rates as high as 445 percent, Reagan approved $1.5 billion in Israeli assistance, which was paid in two installments — one each year.

"It was an extraordinarily important effort to help Israel make it through their economic crisis," he said.

Bolstering Aid Packages

Prior to the Reagan presidency, the U.S. provided financial backing and assistance to Israel via a collection of loans and grants.

But after he took office, the loans and grants evolved into the "very important economic and military aid" the U.S. currently and regularly provides Jerusalem, America's only democratic ally in the Middle East.

"Israel has received more direct aid from the United States since World War II than any other country," but the amounts during the first half of that time period "were relatively small," writes Mitchell Bard, for the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.

"Starting with fiscal year 1987, Israel annually received $1.2 billion in all grant economic aid and $1.8 billion in all grant military assistance," Bard wrote. But, he added, "In 1998, Israel offered to voluntarily reduce its dependence on U.S. economic aid. According to an agreement reached with the Clinton Administration and Congress, the $1.2 billion economic aid package will be reduced by $120 million each year so that it will be phased out in ten years."

Still, half those savings ($60 million) will be added to Israel's military aid package.

Commonsense Friend

Reagan seemed to be at ease in his dealings with Israel, partly because experts believe he knew and understood the importance of a strong Jewish state in the region.

"He had some real good commonsense approaches" to U.S. relations with Israel, said Freedman, of AFSI. "He understood Jerusalem could not be divided, and that there cannot be a Palestinian state" because the latter "would spell the end of Israel," she said.

Block said Reagan signed a strategic letter of understanding in 1982 with the Israeli administration of Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which is still used by both governments today.

Rabbi Dr. Morton H. Pomerantz, a leading New York rabbi, told NewsMax that Reagan "was a friend of Israel from the time the country was founded, and he was very consistent."

Pomerantz said while Bush understands that Israel "lives under the kind of terrorism that struck the U.S. on September 11, 2001," he also agreed that Reagan saw early the terror threat to both countries as well, especially after Iranian-backed terrorists bombed a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983, killing 241 Marines.

"Reagan recognized Israel as an actual ally during the Cold War," he said, "which he was most responsible for winning."

Reagan may have used Israel to help him defeat the Evil Empire. But he had a deep affinity for the only other nation to claim a Providential founding.

“In Israel, free men and women are every day demonstrating the power of courage and faith,” Reagan once remarked. “Back in 1948 when Israel was founded, pundits claimed the new country could never survive. Today, no one questions that. Israel is a land of stability and democracy in a region of tyranny and unrest.”

Editor's note:

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