http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=10/25/00&id=97906
Clinton to press for extra aid for Israel
By Aluf Benn, Ha'aretz, Wednesday, October 25, 2000
The U.S. administration is expected to ask Congress this week for a
special military aid package for Israel, which will total hundreds of
millions of dollars, Israeli government sources involved in the
contacts with the administration said yesterday.
Congress recesses on Friday, and the administration is expected to
present an "omnibus bill" containing a number of budgetary requests
before then.
Israel has asked the United States for an $800 million aid package,
half to cover the costs of the withdrawal from Lebanon, and half to
finance development of an anti-missile defense program in light of
Iran's successful test of its new Shihab missile. This money would be
on top of the usual military aid package, which will total $1.98
billion next year.
At first, American officials said they would request a much smaller
aid package, of between $150 million and $200 million. But Prime
Minister Ehud Barak reiterated his request for the larger sum to
President Bill Clinton at the Sharm al-Sheikh summit last week, and
Israeli sources said yesterday that there is now "a chance that our
full request will be approved [by Clinton] and submitted to Congress."
Sources in both the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry
predict that Clinton will try to "do something" with the peace process
after the November 7 elections in the U.S., in order to secure his
"legacy." Once the elections are over, he will be free of political
pressures.
According to reports that have reached Jerusalem, the American
administration is considering convening a summit with Barak and
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The latter has proposed
November 16 as a date. The summit would be a continuation of the Camp
David talks this summer, with the goal of reaching a framework
agreement for a permanent settlement.
The administration's main concerns regarding this plan are the
continuing violence in the territories and the political situation in
Israel - particularly the possibility of the Likud's entry into the
government.
Earlier this week, the administration rejected Barak's request that it
publicly blame the Palestinians for the violation of the Sharm
al-Sheikh cease-fire agreement.
Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami will go to the U.S. next week to
discuss the peace process and bilateral relations with National
Security Adviser Sandy Berger. Among other items, Ben-Ami will push
Israel's request that it be "upgraded" to the status of a "strategic
ally." Bilateral talks on this issue were frozen a few weeks ago.
The unilateral separation plan
Meanwhile, in an effort to defuse the criticism which Barak's plan for
unilateral separation from the Palestinians has elicited - in
particular from the United States - the Prime Minister's Office
published a document yesterday declaring that "separation from the
Palestinians does not mean dissociation."
"Dissociation, whether economic, infrastructure-related, civilian or
social, is not only impossible, it does not serve Israeli interests,"
the document said.
The document stated that Israel's goal is still a negotiated agreement
with the Palestinians, but that "this goal, particularly in light of
recent events, may have to be translated into a number of interim
goals, the central one being a start to implementation of a separation
between Israel and the territories of Judea and Samaria." However, it
noted, this separation would be gradual, occurring over several years.
The basic concept of the separation plan, the document said, is a
"border that breathes" - meaning one through which economic and
infrastructure cooperation could continue to flow. The exact location
of this border has not yet been determined
Congress set to okay $2.8 billion for Israel
By Nitzan Horowitz, 10/28/2000,
Ha'aretz Correspondent
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Congress yesterday completed the
procedures for approving the annual American aid package to Israel
for next year. Israel will receive $1.98 billion dollars in military aid and
an additional $800 million in civilian assistance.
The package reflects the restructuring of the aid package carried out
during the tenure of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in
which Israel gets $120 million less civilian aid per year in return for a
$60 million annual increase in military assistance.
While the annual assistance package is in the process of being
approved, U.S. and Israeli officials have intensified their talks over the
additional $800 million in military aid requested by Israel to pay for
the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the development of
an anti-ballistic missile shield. The urgency stems from the approach
of the elections for Congress on November 7.
Israel's ambassador to Washington, David Ivry, met yesterday with
senior officials in the National Security Council and the budget office
of the White House to discuss the special assistance package.
Israeli officials say that the "ball is now in the court of the
administration," which must issue a request to both houses of
Congress. The administration is expected to make the request soon.
Initially, the large sum requested by Israel stirred significant opposition
in Washington and the administration said that they would issue a
request for a smaller sum to Congress. Nonetheless, as a result of
recent deliberations between officials of the two governments,
including talks between President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister
Ehud Barak, it is believed that the request made to Congress will not
be significantly less than the sum asked by Israel.
