John Rentoul's well-known series on questions to which the answer is no could well be supplemented by another: questions to which the answer is short. Here is such a question (lodged in the second paragraph):
Take the Israeli army. At a single glitzy charity gala in New York earlier this year, an impressive $20m (£12.5m) was donated in one evening by the rich guests. This event was organised by Friends of the Israel Defence Forces, the main US organisation raising funds for Israeli soldiers on active duty, which raised nearly $50m in 2008. Similar fundraising operations exist in a number of European countries, as a recent investigation by the Inter Press Service revealed.
With Israel possessing the most powerful military in the Middle East and one of the richest and best-equipped in the world, many will be scratching their heads as to why the IDF needs "charity". Not only are soldiers the responsibility of the army they serve – and by extension the government – surely the IDF can afford to take care of its own. After all, it swallows up at least 6% of Israel's GDP and receives some $3bn a year in US military aid.
Why the IDF receives charity is because it is Israel's defence against its enemies, and some people think, rightly, that this defence is needed.
