Wizdom
08-12-02, 16:33
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Dec. 5, 2002
Bush tells American Jewish leaders he supports loan guarantees for Israel
By JANINE ZACHARIA
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WASHINGTON US President George W. Bush met with roughly a dozen American rabbis on Wednesday evening and expressed general support for the prospect of a fresh US aid package to Israel.
Israel has asked the Bush administration for roughly $4 billion in new direct assistance and $8b. $10. in loan guarantees to cope with a burgeoning economic crisis and costs that would be related to a US-led war with Iraq.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive director of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who attended the meeting between Bush and the rabbis, said Bush "indicated support" for the request and said the administration was looking into it.
Bush said he "understood the pressure on Israel" and that US officials were "examining ways to give support," he added.
While last year, Bush hosted a much larger meeting with leaders from a spectrum of American Jewish organizations, this year's gathering was limited to rabbis, Hoenlein, and Conference of Presidents' chairman Mortimer Zuckerman, plus representatives of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
A leak of minutes of last year's meeting to The New York Times caused deep consternation at the White House.
In his remarks to the rabbis on Wednesday, Bush stressed that his June 24 Middle East speech remains the cornerstone of his Middle East policy. Asked about anti-Semitism in Europe, Bush said he had raised the problem in discussions with European leaders and said it is important to speak out against the phenomenon.
Bush also said, according to a source briefed on the proceedings, that he believed the American people are praying for him to be successful.
After the meeting, Bush hosted a Hanukka party at the White House for roughly 200 Jewish leaders. An ornate brass hanukkia, on loan from a synagogue in Philadelphia, was lit by two sisters Daniella, 12, and Alexandra, 15 who lost their father, Victor Wald, in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
A chamber choir from the Ramaz day school in New York chanted Hebrew prayers.
"You have beautiful voices," Bush said. "They all deserve 'A's."
"The spirit of those early patriots lives in the lives of the state of Israel and throughout the Jewish community, and among all brave people who fight violence and terror," Bush said in brief remarks, recalling the ancient Maccabees of the Hanukka story.
"We pray that this season of light will also be a season of peace for the Jewish people."
As snow covered Washington on Thursday, Bush continued with holiday festivities, this time marking the celebration of Id al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, at Washington's Islamic Center.
"The spirit behind this holiday is a reminder that that Islam brings hope and comfort to more than a billion people worldwide," Bush said. "Islam affirms God's justice and insists on man's moral responsibility."
In talks with Kenya's leader on Thursday, Bush said last week's attacks in Mombasa show that terrorists can strike anywhere and underscore a need to work together in defense.
"If the terrorists could strike in Kenya, they could strike in Ethiopia, they could strike in Europe," Bush said in a meeting with President Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia. "We must continue this war to hunt these killers down one at a time to bring them to justice, which means information-sharing."
Bush added: "If we get wind that somebody is thinking about doing something to Ethiopia, we're prepared to work with the Ethiopian government to disrupt any plans.
Dec. 5, 2002
Bush tells American Jewish leaders he supports loan guarantees for Israel
By JANINE ZACHARIA
Advertisement
WASHINGTON US President George W. Bush met with roughly a dozen American rabbis on Wednesday evening and expressed general support for the prospect of a fresh US aid package to Israel.
Israel has asked the Bush administration for roughly $4 billion in new direct assistance and $8b. $10. in loan guarantees to cope with a burgeoning economic crisis and costs that would be related to a US-led war with Iraq.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive director of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who attended the meeting between Bush and the rabbis, said Bush "indicated support" for the request and said the administration was looking into it.
Bush said he "understood the pressure on Israel" and that US officials were "examining ways to give support," he added.
While last year, Bush hosted a much larger meeting with leaders from a spectrum of American Jewish organizations, this year's gathering was limited to rabbis, Hoenlein, and Conference of Presidents' chairman Mortimer Zuckerman, plus representatives of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
A leak of minutes of last year's meeting to The New York Times caused deep consternation at the White House.
In his remarks to the rabbis on Wednesday, Bush stressed that his June 24 Middle East speech remains the cornerstone of his Middle East policy. Asked about anti-Semitism in Europe, Bush said he had raised the problem in discussions with European leaders and said it is important to speak out against the phenomenon.
Bush also said, according to a source briefed on the proceedings, that he believed the American people are praying for him to be successful.
After the meeting, Bush hosted a Hanukka party at the White House for roughly 200 Jewish leaders. An ornate brass hanukkia, on loan from a synagogue in Philadelphia, was lit by two sisters Daniella, 12, and Alexandra, 15 who lost their father, Victor Wald, in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
A chamber choir from the Ramaz day school in New York chanted Hebrew prayers.
"You have beautiful voices," Bush said. "They all deserve 'A's."
"The spirit of those early patriots lives in the lives of the state of Israel and throughout the Jewish community, and among all brave people who fight violence and terror," Bush said in brief remarks, recalling the ancient Maccabees of the Hanukka story.
"We pray that this season of light will also be a season of peace for the Jewish people."
As snow covered Washington on Thursday, Bush continued with holiday festivities, this time marking the celebration of Id al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, at Washington's Islamic Center.
"The spirit behind this holiday is a reminder that that Islam brings hope and comfort to more than a billion people worldwide," Bush said. "Islam affirms God's justice and insists on man's moral responsibility."
In talks with Kenya's leader on Thursday, Bush said last week's attacks in Mombasa show that terrorists can strike anywhere and underscore a need to work together in defense.
"If the terrorists could strike in Kenya, they could strike in Ethiopia, they could strike in Europe," Bush said in a meeting with President Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia. "We must continue this war to hunt these killers down one at a time to bring them to justice, which means information-sharing."
Bush added: "If we get wind that somebody is thinking about doing something to Ethiopia, we're prepared to work with the Ethiopian government to disrupt any plans.