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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Johannes Pilch who wrote (57114)	7/20/1999 12:55:00 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 67261

Barak Has Faith in U.S. Congress By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer Clinton talks with Barak AP/Greg Gibson [13K] WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said today he has faith Congress will support his efforts to make peace with the Palestinians and Syria because lawmakers have backed Israel ''in the toughest moments in our history.'' Barak, making the rounds on Capitol Hill to meet with Republican and Democratic leaders, said Congress has had ''a traditional role in supporting Israel — sometimes in concert with the administration, sometimes in spite of disputes with the administration.'' Congress has helped Israel meet its security needs ''in the toughest moments in our history ... in the past, the present and I hope the future,'' he said. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., however, steered away from outright support for President Clinton's aid proposals for Israel, saying, ''That will have to go through the appropriation process.'' President Clinton announces "new partnership" Clinton, in establishing a new strategic partnership with Israel, promised boosts in U.S. military aid and up to 50 jet fighters as inducements for territorial concessions by Barak. U.S. military aid to Israel will be boosted by nearly one-third, from $1.9 billion a year currently to $2.4 billion annually over the next decade — if Congress approves. And the administration is urging Congress to approve a special $1.2 billion appropriation to carry out a pullback on the West Bank. Barak is responding with enthusiasm, promising to test the perilous waters of Mideast peacemaking for the next 15 months. ''By then we should know,'' the new prime minister said Monday after a fourth day of talks with Clinton. Barak and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright continued talks today over breakfast at her home in the Georgetown section of Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak Later, he was calling on Vice President Al Gore before flying to London for talks Wednesday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. On Capitol Hill, Barak began his day by meeting with 30 of the 33 Jewish members of Congress and with members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. ''He appeared to us to be a man emotionally and creatively fixated on the security of Israel as an integral part of the peace process,'' said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., of the session with Jewish members of Congress. Barak registered a willingness to take risks for peace, but also assured the Israeli people that he would be ever mindful of their security concerns. President Clinton announces space partnership with Israel At the same time, Barak carefully avoided saying how much land he would relinquish — on the West Bank to the Palestinians and on the Golan Heights to Syria. ''We are not talking about a miraculous solution,'' Barak said at a joint White House news conference with Clinton on Monday. Peace, he said, ''will not drop upon us from heaven in three weeks.'' Even so, Barak's willingness to try to end a three-year stalemate in negotiations with Syria and a seven-month impasse with the Palestinians inspired Clinton and his senior advisers to lavish praise on the former general. ''Your first visit as Israel's leader has been an enormous success,'' Albright told Barak in an exchange of toasts at a dinner Monday night at the residence of Israeli Ambassador Zalman Shoval. ''America's support for Israel's security, including a strategic edge, is rock solid,'' she said. And she assured Barak, who urged the United States openly not to take on the role of ''judge'' between Israel and its Arab neighbors, that she understood ''the hard decisions that lie ahead can only be made by those in the region.'' The new strategic partnership set up by Clinton and Barak calls for U.S. and Israeli security experts to establish a joint group and submit to the two leaders ''measures to bolster Israel's indigenous defense and deterrent capabilities.'' These recommendations will be due every four months, and Clinton and Barak will meet at regular intervals, or about every four months, as well. The United States will finance Israel's development of a third battery of Arrow anti-missile missiles, and Israel will purchase up to 50 F-16 fighter jets over the next few years. And yet, with all this support, Clinton acknowledged that ''we should have no illusions. The way ahead will be difficult.'' Clinton also announced the first Israeli astronaut will join a National Aeronautics and Space Administration flight in 2000, ''taking our partnership to new heights — literally.'' In Jerusalem, Saeb Erekat, top negotiator for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, expressed disappointment at the approach outlined by Clinton and Barak. He said Barak was moving the United States from its role as ''mediator'' to being a ''partner'' with Israel. ''This link is totally rejected by us,'' he said.