How do you sort out claims about the total US cost of supporting Israel?

Start by separating direct assistance from everything else. Military and economic aid to Israel can be tracked over a stated period, but a figure needs to say whether it counts only money already spent, or also approved future assistance, loan guarantees, and other support.

Aid to Egypt, Jordan, or the Palestinian Authority should be listed separately. Those programs may relate to regional diplomacy or security, but treating every dollar as money spent on Israel assumes a purpose that the accounting alone does not establish.

The war-cost estimates are where a single grand total gets especially shaky. Wars in Iraq, Libya, or Syria had different causes and participants. Saying the United States spent money on a conflict is not the same as showing it entered that conflict for Israel, or that the whole cost belongs in an Israel-related total.

For a useful comparison, look for an estimate that names its time period, defines which costs it includes, and explains how it assigns responsibility. If those details are missing, the headline number is more argument than accounting.

For the human toll, keep the same caution. Civilian deaths and displacement in conflicts deserve serious attention, but totals vary by source and method, and responsibility can involve several parties. A broad regional death toll does not by itself show that one country caused every death or that a particular US policy was the cause.

I'd look for conflict-by-conflict estimates with clear dates and definitions, then keep those findings separate from claims about US spending. Combining dollars and lives into one sweeping claim can obscure both.