This is too good to pass up. Reading Ha’aretz this morning, as I normally do, I came across this startling headline:
“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.”
Given the economic difficulties here in the U.S., it seemed strange to me that this request would be approved so quickly and easily. But of course, caveat emptor always applies to what you read in the newspapers. “Israelis sources say” is the giveaway.
In the very same newspaper, in an article on the Israeli elections and the U.S. administration’s effort not to be seen as intervening, Nathan Guttman has this to say in re: his own paper’s unequivocal headline:
“Sharon is making a strong effort to garner American gestures that might help crystallize his image as a successful statesman and help him in the elections - both within his party and in the general poll. The most auspicious example of this strategy is his effort to close a deal on a huge American aid package before the elections. The Israeli Embassy in Washington was surprised by the profusion of press leaks and the quickened pace of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry in submitting the new aid request, to the tune of $1 billion. In the opinion of Israeli diplomats responsible for holding contacts with the Americans, it would be better to wait until the picture on Iraq gets clearer, and until the administration resolves its budgetary problems with Congress, before Israel submits such a significant request.”
“Moreover, Israel has not yet received its previous additional aid request, and it is doubtful whether this will be approved by Congress before the end of January. So why move so quickly with an additional request at this stage? One American diplomatic source who was close to the issue agrees that there may be political significance to the aids application itself. The administration will not say no to the Israeli request when it wants Israel to sit on the sidelines during the Iraqi campaign. A failure to say no does not necessarily mean agreement, but it may be enough for the domestic political arena in Israel to interpret the application for foreign aid as a successful move by Sharon to rescue Israel’s economy.”
Note that what Sharon is really asking for is an additional $1 billion for defense and $10 billion in loan guarantees. Not small potatoes, but far from the “$14 billion approved” that the headline blares out. BTW, as a U.S. taxpayer I would be hopping mad if even this gets approved.
