As it currently stands, Israel receives billions of our tax dollars in cash, loans and military equipment while flaunting both international law and American foreign policy objectives; namely, expanding settlements in occupied Palestine.
When the United States occasionally protests these activities, it acts as if we have no influence over Israeli actions. This is absurd.
During the Suez crisis of 1956, President Eisenhower threatened to withhold all aid to Israel and make private donations to Israel illegal as well, thereby averting war in the region. It is time for the American Government to once again use its monetary influence over Israel to compel a halt to their Illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank and enter into meaningful dialogue with the PLO.