As your trusted ally, we can work with you on this peace-process, but in the meantime, can be hit you up for some scratch?
U.S. Said to Reject New Aid for Israel
story.news.yahoo.com
Wed Mar 13, 6:38 PM ET
By Carol Giacomo and Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is blocking a request from Israel for hundreds of millions of dollars in new aid, administration and
congressional sources said on Wednesday.
Amid a worsening spiral of Middle East violence, Israel had sought $800 million in aid beyond its usual $3 billion in annual
U.S. assistance, and the administration gave serious consideration to providing $200 million.
But the request raised concerns over the major Israeli offensive against Palestinians, the high level of U.S. aid already given to
Israel and the war on terrorism's growing strain on the U.S. budget, the sources said.
"It's not going to happen. OMB (the White House Office of Management and Budget) nixed it," one congressional aide told
Reuters of the Israeli request.
OMB declined to comment. An administration official and other congressional sources also said the additional aid for Israel
was not approved.
"I don't think there will be any request for Israel in the supplemental at this time," a congressional aide said.
A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington said when asked for comment, "We don't know about this."
The aid was considered as part of a new spending package totaling more than $15 billion for the Pentagon (news - web sites), front-line states in the war on
terrorism, the New York recovery effort and homeland defense that President Bush (news - web sites) will recommend to Congress shortly.
Sources said OMB slashed other requests as well by as much as one-third. It was unclear if the Israel aid request might be revived in the future.
Bush rebuked the Israeli government during a news conference on Wednesday, saying its military operations in the West Bank were "not helpful" to the task
of setting the scene for a truce.
CHIEF AID RECIPIENT
Israel has long been the leading beneficiary of U.S. foreign aid, receiving about $3 billion annually.
During a visit to Washington earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) raised the issue of additional aid with Bush.
The discussion centered on some $800 million that was promised but never delivered to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (news - web sites) by
former President Bill Clinton to help cover the cost of Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon and to defend against ballistic missiles from enemy states.
"We've been talking (with Bush) about what is the meaning of that commitment," an Israeli diplomat said.
The Sept. 11 attacks caused the United States to launch an unprecedented war on terrorism, with Israel considered among front-line states defending against
potential attacks by Iraq, Iran and other parties Washington considers threatening.
Israelis had also argued that new U.S. aid was needed to help boost an economy that has been hit by regional violence as well as the worldwide economic
downturn, analysts said.
Although Israel urged the full $800 million in new aid, several U.S. sources said the State Department had recommended $200 million instead of the full
amount.
The request has prompted intense debate within the administration and among the administration, Republican members of Congress and pro-Israel advocates.
Many administration officials and members of Congress were sympathetic to Israel and believed Sharon was justified in the force used against Palestinians in
retaliation for repeated suicide bombings in Israel, U.S. sources said.
But Bush's public rebuke of Israel on Wednesday underscored a growing U.S. impatience with intensifying Middle East violence, especially as his envoy,
retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, is en route to the region on a peace mission.
There also is a recognition that Israel already receives the lion's share of U.S. foreign aid and that the war on terrorism has placed heavy new demands on the
United States to assist other countries that have provided bases and other help in the fight against al Qaeda and other extremist groups.
"To give millions of new dollars to Israel could raise some eyebrows, especially in light of the criticism of Sharon's tactics" against the Palestinians, one
analyst said.
Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) this week embarked on a trip to the Middle East with the primary aim of building a consensus against Iraq. But
he has come under increasing Arab pressure to end escalating Israel-Palestinian violence.
The new $15 billion-plus spending bill Bush will send to Congress is expected to contain $10 billion more for the war on terrorism and $5.4 billion in
recovery assistance for New York, where the World Trade Center was destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The emergency spending bill is expected to include $250 million for Afghanistan (news - web sites) beyond the $297 million already promised and an as yet
unpublicized amount for Turkey.
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