[PEN-L:32556] protection rents, part 5

["Ian Murray" <seamus2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

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.