At the age of 78 old time Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus is in a position where he can write without fear of career consequences.
This is a good use of such liberty:
As the country reviews its spending on defense and foreign assistance, it is time to examine the funding the United States provides to Israel.
Let me put it another way: Nine days ago, the Israeli cabinet reacted to months of demonstrations against the high cost of living there and agreed to raise taxes on corporations and people with high incomes ($130,000 a year). It also approved cutting more than $850 million, or about 5 percent, from its roughly $16 billion defense budget in each of the next two years.
If Israel can reduce its defense spending because of its domestic economic problems, shouldn’t the United States — which must cut military costs because of its major budget deficit — consider reducing its aid to Israel?
Any other Washington insider asking this question (and indirectly, as Pincus does, answering it with yes) would get destroyed by The Lobby. The only thing they can do to Pincus is to call him a self-hating Jew.
They will start doing so tomorrow, if not today.