-Caveat Lector- http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=%20234132&contrassID=2&subContrassID=2&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=234132
U.S. expected to approve $14 billion aid request By Moti Bassok Israel will today submit a request for $14 billion in economic aid to U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. President George Bush is expected to quickly approve the request - $4 billion in defense aid. and U.S. guarantees for $10 billion - with minor changes, Israeli sources said. The sources said the Republican congressional majority would approve the aid within 3-6 months. After Finance Ministry director general Ohad Marani and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau chief Dov Weisglass submit the request, it will be handled by both Israeli and U.S. officials who will determine the duration of the grant and guarantees, and various technical details. The guarantees will apparently be for five years but it is unclear how the defense aid will be laid out. Sharon told Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz during a meeting eight days ago with Finance Minister Silvan Shalom, that as soon as the U.S. makes a positive decision on the defense grant, he will consent to some of Mofaz's requests for budget increases. The sources say the grant will allow the government to direct defense spending to growth oriented projects. Some treasury officials are not pleased with the request for such high guarantees, fearing that some of the money will not be directed to growth projects. However, sources at the prime minister's office say news of the aid will improve the country's international financial standing, and could encourage both local and foreign investors to reconsider Israel. The U.S. aid will also substantially influence the strategic situation in the Middle East. Sharon first raised the question of aid in his Washington meeting with Bush in mid-October. The formal request was completed by Marani's staff in the past two weeks, with the explanation that Israel has increased military spending in the past two years because of the Palestinian uprising and the expected U.S. war with Iraq. Last week, Turkey and Jordan received generous American military aid of $2 billion to prepare for the possible war with Iraq. The request for the guarantees - the option of getting improved loan terms from U.S. banks - is based on Israel's need to stabilize the economy and pull out of recession. Last week Washington approved Israel's annual military aid of $2.16 billion for 2004, and is expected to approve its civil aid soon. ========================== http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38823-2002Nov25.html Israel Seeks $4 Billion In New Military Aid By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, November 26, 2002; Page A24 Israel has asked the United States for $4 billion in new military assistance to defray the costs of fighting terrorism and the potential expense of preparing for a U.S. war in Iraq, along with $10 billion in loan guarantees to bolster its struggling economy, Bush administration officials said. The request was presented by Dov Weisglass, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's chief of staff, and the director of Israel's finance ministry at a White House meeting yesterday with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, officials said. Israel receives more U.S. military aid than any other country, in amounts governed by a bilateral agreement that annually increases military payments while reducing economic assistance. The State Department announced last week that it intended to ask Congress for $2.16 billion in military assistance to Israel for fiscal 2004, up from $2.1 billion requested for 2003 and $2.04 billion allocated in 2002. The payments requested yesterday would be in addition to those amounts. In yesterday's meeting, the Israelis presented a detailed description of the country's economic woes -- a combination of rising military costs, a growing deficit and increased unemployment along with falling income from taxes and tourism, according to an Israeli official. The official said Israel believed that several countries, including Turkey and Jordan, had discussed increased U.S. assistance in exchange for expenses they might incur during a war with Iraq, and felt that Israel could make the same case. Rice made no commitment, according to administration officials, but said the request would be taken under consideration. Subjects of further discussion, officials said, included the time period over which such a sum could be paid, and whether to consider just the aid request, the loan guarantee, or both. One administration official said the $4 billion figure included $800 million that Israel said the Clinton administration had agreed to as compensation for its May 2000 military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, which the Bush administration declined to honor. Also cited were ongoing costs to combat Palestinian attacks and for the continued occupation of parts of the West Bank; contributions to the global anti-terrorism campaign and what the official called "a payoff for not responding to Iraq." The United States persuaded Israel, whose arsenal is the most powerful in the Middle East and isbelieved to include a substantial nuclear stockpile, not to respond to Iraqi missile attacks during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Similar requests have been made by the Bush administration in anticipation of another potential war with Iraq, although the Sharon government has said it would retaliate against a direct attack. � 2002 The Washington Post Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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