Passing along
an update from a hawk-eyed FWer: Merci
beaucoup. Domo arigato.
Ha'aretz - Article Sharon warns of financial sanctions over
security fence ![]()
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The U.S. State Department has
prepared a proposal, awaiting the approval of President George W. Bush, that
calls for cuts in loan guarantees to Israel matching its outlays for the
construction of the security fence east of the Green Line.
The proposal also calls for cuts in the loan guarantees matching the sums spent
by Israel on bypass roads in the West Bank, because the State Department views
the roads as an effort at establishing facts on the ground while the two sides
are negotiating within the parameters of the road map.
The State Department and Secretary of State Colin Powell, in
particular, have emphasized that the opposition in Washington to the outlines
of the security fence continues, contrary to the efforts of the Prime
Minister's Office in Jerusalem to suggest that an understanding has been
reached on the matter between Bush and Ariel Sharon. In addition to a press conference after Sharon departed
Washington, Powell also gave an interview to Maariv reporter in which he reiterated
that the U.S. did not agree with Israel on the outline of the security fence.
The State Department's opposition to the Israeli security fence is based on the
view that it may result in a worsening of relations with the Palestinians and
endangers the fragile nature of the cease-fire and the continuation of negotiations.
The opposition to the fence is
also a response to a disdain for Israel's tactic of establishing facts on the
ground, a method used in the past following the Oslo Accords and also after the
Mitchell Report in 2001.
Sources in Washington say that the proposal calls for cuts in the precise
amounts that Israel expends on the construction of the security fence east of
the Green Line, over Palestinian territory that is the subject of negotiations.
In a sense, the formula is based on a dollar-for-dollar basis in the loan guarantees.
It is still not clear how the U.S.
will make the calculation in relation to the outlays and the territory
confiscated east of the Green Line. It is also doubtful whether the American sanctions will
include the fencing of individual settlements in the territories.
Sources in the State Department insist that now is the time for Washington to
press Israel on about bypass roads, used to avoid concentrations of Palestinian
populations in the territories, and in the process confiscate land in the West
Bank.
Prior to his departure for Washington earlier last week, Sharon said that he
would not agree to any changes in the outline of the fence. But he promised
Bush that the Palestinians living by the fence would not suffer because of its construction.
Some sources here suggest the
government should avoid further conflict with the U.S. on the fence and
concentrate on fencing various settlements individually. In any case, the sources
say, the budget for the completing the security fence is no where to be found.
also Israel Bows to U.S. Pressure, Planning
Change in Fence Route - (in Hebrew)
Abstract
Responding to American pressure, the IDF is planning a new
route for the fence closer to the "green line," which will
not encompass the city of Ariel and the towns of Shevei Shomron and Kedumim as
previously planned. According to State Department sources, Israel agreed to
delay construction of the fence in problematic areas.
