The White House has axed a State Department request to appropriate an additional $200 million aid package to Israel in the current financial year 2002, fearing that such a move would further alienate the Arab states at a time of delicate Middle East diplomacy, American officials told Haaretz.
The Bush Administration is reluctant to include the additional aid in the $27.1 billion anti-terror bill the House Appropriations Committee plans to begin writing next week. Instead, it seeks to enroll the funds requested by the State Department in the framework of extra sums required from the Congress for the next fiscal year, 2003.
The State Department had originally requested Congress for the additional aid, but withdrew its appeal following White House pressures. Nonetheless, the pro-Israeli Congress pushed the vote forward this week. Israel currently receives $2.8 billion in military and economic aid every year, more than any other nation. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
