I understand that this is a debate where both motives and tone are important, because there are people who have genuine animus against Israel as a Jewish state. Perhaps “welfare” isn’t the best choice of word, though one can obviously talk about “corporate welfare” without being anti-corporation. But we’re not just talking about military aid. We are talking about economic aid. In that context, I think pointing out that Israel is a wealthy country — and a country that could be even wealthier if it enacted the free-market reforms economic  aid probably makes less likely — is valid. In a time of mounting debt, does it make sense to be spending money on economic aid to a wealthy country?

UPDATE: I stand corrected on economic aid to Israel, which Phil points out ended during the Bush 43 administration. The strikethrough feature crossing out that text is broken, but I’ve decided to post this correction rather than delete the original text so people can what I’m talking about.