Don't Forget to pay your taxes
Israel, U.S. begin discussions on renewal of foreign aid package
By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent
Israeli officials have been discussing over the past few months how much financial aid Israel should request from the United States in the coming years.
The issue has come up for initial discussions with the Bush administration, and will be raised again at a meeting in Washington next month. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is due to make the final decision on the matter.
The Bush administration this week asked Congress for $2.4 billion in financial aid for Israeli security needs, the highest amount possible under America's current agreement with Israel.
The financial aid issue is on the table once again because the previous agreement expires this budgetary year, after being in effect for a decade.
As prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said in 1997 that Israel was interested in reducing, to the point of eliminating, the American funds allocated for civilian purposes in Israel. The agreement reached at the time gradually altered the structure of the assistance. At the time, Israel was receiving $3 billion, of which $1.2 billion was allocated for civilian purposes.
Under the new arrangement, it was agreed that $120 million would be cut from the overall aid package every year, while the funds allocated for security purposes would increase by $60 million. As the agreement comes to an end, the civilian aid no longer exists and the security aid amounts to $2.4 billion.
Initial talks on a new financial aid package indicate that both the American and Israeli governments are interested in renewing the aid in an "orderly manner," as one person familiar with the issue put it, rather than returning to the system whereby Israel has to renew its aid request every year.
Israel needs to make a decision on whether to renew a request for civil assistance, and whether to ask for the current level of security assistance on a long-term basis or request more funding for the security challenges Israel faces.
Several officials told Haaretz that Israel has not made a final decision on these issues, although some said they had reservations about the return of civilian funding. One official noted that the outcome "will have strategic importance," not just on the economic level, but also regarding Israel-U.S. relations. The matter has recently been discussed at the defense and foreign ministries.
The Foreign Ministry convened a group of external experts, including former Israeli ambassadors to the U.S. Zalman Shoval and David Ivri, a few weeks ago to discuss some of the issues related to bilateral relations. The participants agreed that the Bush administration has been one of the friendliest to Israel and that there is an advantage to making agreements with U.S. President George W. Bush before he is replaced by someone else.
Israel also views the newly elected Congress as being friendly, and Israeli officials plan to request meetings with House and Senate leaders from both parties once Israel decides on the financial aid questions, in an effort to reach an agreement that is acceptable to Congress. Financial aid requests related to Israel that are submitted to Congress by the administration are generally approved without a problem, due in part to agreements reached ahead of time with congressional members.
Olmert will make the final decision on Israel's position after consulting with the heads of the defense and foreign ministries. The Defense Ministry, the primary recipient of security aid, has been asked to come up with estimates of Israeli security needs and how much funding they will require. An Israeli official said the Finance Ministry is also involved in some of the preliminary talks.
By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent
Israeli officials have been discussing over the past few months how much financial aid Israel should request from the United States in the coming years.
The issue has come up for initial discussions with the Bush administration, and will be raised again at a meeting in Washington next month. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is due to make the final decision on the matter.
The Bush administration this week asked Congress for $2.4 billion in financial aid for Israeli security needs, the highest amount possible under America's current agreement with Israel.
The financial aid issue is on the table once again because the previous agreement expires this budgetary year, after being in effect for a decade.
As prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said in 1997 that Israel was interested in reducing, to the point of eliminating, the American funds allocated for civilian purposes in Israel. The agreement reached at the time gradually altered the structure of the assistance. At the time, Israel was receiving $3 billion, of which $1.2 billion was allocated for civilian purposes.
Under the new arrangement, it was agreed that $120 million would be cut from the overall aid package every year, while the funds allocated for security purposes would increase by $60 million. As the agreement comes to an end, the civilian aid no longer exists and the security aid amounts to $2.4 billion.
Initial talks on a new financial aid package indicate that both the American and Israeli governments are interested in renewing the aid in an "orderly manner," as one person familiar with the issue put it, rather than returning to the system whereby Israel has to renew its aid request every year.
Israel needs to make a decision on whether to renew a request for civil assistance, and whether to ask for the current level of security assistance on a long-term basis or request more funding for the security challenges Israel faces.
Several officials told Haaretz that Israel has not made a final decision on these issues, although some said they had reservations about the return of civilian funding. One official noted that the outcome "will have strategic importance," not just on the economic level, but also regarding Israel-U.S. relations. The matter has recently been discussed at the defense and foreign ministries.
The Foreign Ministry convened a group of external experts, including former Israeli ambassadors to the U.S. Zalman Shoval and David Ivri, a few weeks ago to discuss some of the issues related to bilateral relations. The participants agreed that the Bush administration has been one of the friendliest to Israel and that there is an advantage to making agreements with U.S. President George W. Bush before he is replaced by someone else.
Israel also views the newly elected Congress as being friendly, and Israeli officials plan to request meetings with House and Senate leaders from both parties once Israel decides on the financial aid questions, in an effort to reach an agreement that is acceptable to Congress. Financial aid requests related to Israel that are submitted to Congress by the administration are generally approved without a problem, due in part to agreements reached ahead of time with congressional members.
Olmert will make the final decision on Israel's position after consulting with the heads of the defense and foreign ministries. The Defense Ministry, the primary recipient of security aid, has been asked to come up with estimates of Israeli security needs and how much funding they will require. An Israeli official said the Finance Ministry is also involved in some of the preliminary talks.
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I'd be happy to designate every cent of the thousands that I pay to fund the aid rather than any of the other projects paid for by the federal government: a welfare system that rewards counter behavior, a war on drugs that merely subsidizes organized crime, and--- I could go on but you get the idea. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Ray B
I'd be happy to designate every cent of the thousands that I pay to fund the aid rather than any of the other projects paid for by the federal government: a welfare system that rewards counter behavior, a war on drugs that merely subsidizes organized crime, and--- I could go on but you get the idea.
How about depleting Medicare? Or the Social Security fund? Or the funding for the VA?0 -
Hairy- It should all be replaced by a system that does not reward counter behaviors, becoming aged or injured. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Ray B
Hairy- It should all be replaced by a system that does not reward counter behaviors, becoming aged or injured.
[:D] What are you recommending, reducing our deficit?0 -
Hairy- What Social Security Fund? There is no SS Fund and there never has been. All that money deducted from our paychecks goes into the General Fund.
What is the point of this post other than to, once again, give you an opportunity to express your disdain for Israel.
We get it, Hairy. You really don't need to keep reminding us.0 -
It's all Bush's fault. 0 -
Copy cat. You are not fooling anyone.
D.0 -
Hairy- What I am suggesting would reduce several of the costs associated with the operation of the government, which would provide opportunity for the politicians to reduce the deficit, but whether the decicit would be reduced is a different question. 0 -
I dont think the US should give Isreal ANY MONEY and I am a supporter of Isreal. Their economy is doing great, why do they need our money ? They have stolen secrets from us, undercut our defense firms, and spied on us. They also cause us a fair amount of grief in the middle east. I support Isreal on principle (democracy, capitalists) but I see no reason why we should give them any money. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by SaxonPig
Hairy- What Social Security Fund? There is no SS Fund and there never has been. All that money deducted from our paychecks goes into the General Fund.
The Social Security site says we have a "Social Security Trust Fund" consisting of Federal Government securities, with assets of $1.994 BILLION dollars, as of the end of September of 2006. They must be wrong?
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/assets.html
As for Israel, NO MORE MONEY.0 -
quote:Originally posted by HAIRY
quote:Originally posted by Ray B
I'd be happy to designate every cent of the thousands that I pay to fund the aid rather than any of the other projects paid for by the federal government: a welfare system that rewards counter behavior, a war on drugs that merely subsidizes organized crime, and--- I could go on but you get the idea.
How about depleting Medicare? Or the Social Security fund? Or the funding for the VA?
Just fine by me.
P.S.
POLITICS FORUM!!!!!!!!!!!0
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