Weekly Commentary: Trump Freed Israel From Its Bean Counters - Our Rush For
Independence
Dr. Aaron Lerner 24 June 2026

Decades ago, the Treasury Ministry bean counters argued that dynamic water
pricing, rather than desalination, was the answer to our water shortage
challenge.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overruled the bean counters, and today we
can open our taps, even in the driest year, thanks to a series of
desalination plants which ended up supplying water at a fraction of the cost
the bean counters predicted.

The Ministry of Defense bean counters are finally facing the same fate.

In their case, thanks to American generosity, we had critical defense
program after critical defense program involve the supply from America of
components and even complete units rather than domestic production, as "Made
in USA" was free.

Projects were delayed so that they jibed with the American funding, and at
times we opted for free American weapons rather than superior Israeli
models.

"Free" American equipment often trumped domestic production. Israeli
soldiers carried American-made M16 rifles for decades while
Israeli-designed rifles such as the Galil were sidelined.

President Joe Biden's temporary embargoes gave us a nudge.

And some Israelis certainly started to consider what might happen if the
wrong Democrat were to sit in the White House in 2029.

But we have President Donald Trump to thank for supercharging our race to
domestic defense production.

Because at this stage, there's no telling what Mr. Trump, or for that matter
Mr. Vance, might do to us as well.

Thanks to that uncertainty, there is hope that initiatives for co-production
have complete lines in Israel, with American co-production to serve American
defense needs.

Because concerns that once could be seen as entirely off the wall are today,
unfortunately, quite reasonable.
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