In International Relations scholarship, foreign aid is perceived as a rational choice madeby states interested in either rewarding other states or in inducing a particular foreign policy, while the overall goal is to influence bilateral relations and/or gain international support. Recipients of foreign aid are expected to ‘remember’ their donors on the international stage and repay by political alignment in international organizations, regardless of the type of aid provided. We argue that humanitarian and development aid result in different political returns, since humanitarian aid is reactive in its nature and development aid (ODA) is proactive. To test this assertion empirically in the case of Israeli foreign aid, weuse data on both Israeli humanitarian and ODA provisions and data on voting patterns of Israel’s aid recipients in the UN General Assembly (UNGA). We find that Israeli bilateral humanitarian foreign aid so far has not provided its expected diplomatic revenues, regardless of the size of aid provided or its content. However, it shows that Israeli Official Development Aid (ODA) has long term effects on international support towards Israel. The results are informative about the usefulness of foreign aid as a diplomatic tool, with important policy implications for decision makers in Israel and worldwide.
