jaja
26-11-03, 11:54
US cuts Israeli loan guarantees
The United States is cutting nearly $290m from a loan guarantee package to Israel in response to its settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel is also being penalised for the building of a barrier in the West Bank to separate Israelis and Palestinians. The money comes from a $9bn package of loan guarantees and does not affect Washington's direct aid for Israel.
But the move is seen as an important symbolic gesture and evidence of new efforts by the US to calm the conflict. The amount to be deducted was agreed by the two sides at a meeting in Washington on Tuesday between top officials from the White House and the office of the Israeli Prime Minister.
Broadly speaking, the US guideline is to reduce its loan guarantee by an amount equivalent to what the Israelis spend on Jewish settlement expansion in the Palestinian territories. It means Israel will not be able to raise so much money in loans from foreign banks.
Tough words
The move follows a warning last month by the US State Department that the Israeli Government risked being penalised if it persisted with policies inconsistent with previous understandings with Washington. During a speech in London last week, President George W Bush delivered an unusually sharp message for Israel. He said Israel must "freeze settlement construction, dismantle unauthorised outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people and not prejudice final negotiation with the placement of walls and fences."
But the BBC's David Bamford in Washington says Mr Bush has domestic political reasons to be cautious in how much pressure he puts on the Israelis. His father, George HW Bush, suspended Israel's loan guarantees for similar reasons when he was president in 1991. But it created a political storm in the US that many believe contributed to his failure to win a second term as president in the following year's election.
Both Israel and the US have stressed that despite the reduction, their ties remain strong. The Israeli embassy said in a statement that the amount cut had been "suggested" by Israel. "Israel accepts that the United States does not view some of the Israeli activities to date... as being consistent with US policy," the statement said. "Israel understands that the US should not finance directly, or indirectly, activities with which it does not agree."
The Israeli ambassador, Daniel Ayalon, told the Associated Press that the resolution proved the "closeness of the relationship and the mechanism of close dialogue." US National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormakc said the agreement "acknowledges US policy concerns and US law regarding activities in the West Bank and Gaza and is a reflection of close and continuing consultations between our two governments."
Renewed demands
The Bush administration appears to be stepping up its drive for a Middle East peace accord and trying to give more support to the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei, in the hope that he survives longer than his predecessor, Abu Mazen. As part of the effort, the US Middle East envoy, Bill Burns, is travelling to the region this weekend - his first visit for several months.
According to Israeli sources, a senior American official had a secret meeting with the Israeli leader, Ariel Sharon, in Rome last week to renew demands for an end to settlement activity and a halt to the building of the barrier through the West Bank. At the weekend, Mr Sharon said he was considering taking "unilateral steps" to advance the peace process with Palestinians. He did not spell them out but the moves are said to include taking down some settlements and drawing up of the borders of a future Palestinian state.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3238632.stm
The United States is cutting nearly $290m from a loan guarantee package to Israel in response to its settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel is also being penalised for the building of a barrier in the West Bank to separate Israelis and Palestinians. The money comes from a $9bn package of loan guarantees and does not affect Washington's direct aid for Israel.
But the move is seen as an important symbolic gesture and evidence of new efforts by the US to calm the conflict. The amount to be deducted was agreed by the two sides at a meeting in Washington on Tuesday between top officials from the White House and the office of the Israeli Prime Minister.
Broadly speaking, the US guideline is to reduce its loan guarantee by an amount equivalent to what the Israelis spend on Jewish settlement expansion in the Palestinian territories. It means Israel will not be able to raise so much money in loans from foreign banks.
Tough words
The move follows a warning last month by the US State Department that the Israeli Government risked being penalised if it persisted with policies inconsistent with previous understandings with Washington. During a speech in London last week, President George W Bush delivered an unusually sharp message for Israel. He said Israel must "freeze settlement construction, dismantle unauthorised outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people and not prejudice final negotiation with the placement of walls and fences."
But the BBC's David Bamford in Washington says Mr Bush has domestic political reasons to be cautious in how much pressure he puts on the Israelis. His father, George HW Bush, suspended Israel's loan guarantees for similar reasons when he was president in 1991. But it created a political storm in the US that many believe contributed to his failure to win a second term as president in the following year's election.
Both Israel and the US have stressed that despite the reduction, their ties remain strong. The Israeli embassy said in a statement that the amount cut had been "suggested" by Israel. "Israel accepts that the United States does not view some of the Israeli activities to date... as being consistent with US policy," the statement said. "Israel understands that the US should not finance directly, or indirectly, activities with which it does not agree."
The Israeli ambassador, Daniel Ayalon, told the Associated Press that the resolution proved the "closeness of the relationship and the mechanism of close dialogue." US National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormakc said the agreement "acknowledges US policy concerns and US law regarding activities in the West Bank and Gaza and is a reflection of close and continuing consultations between our two governments."
Renewed demands
The Bush administration appears to be stepping up its drive for a Middle East peace accord and trying to give more support to the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei, in the hope that he survives longer than his predecessor, Abu Mazen. As part of the effort, the US Middle East envoy, Bill Burns, is travelling to the region this weekend - his first visit for several months.
According to Israeli sources, a senior American official had a secret meeting with the Israeli leader, Ariel Sharon, in Rome last week to renew demands for an end to settlement activity and a halt to the building of the barrier through the West Bank. At the weekend, Mr Sharon said he was considering taking "unilateral steps" to advance the peace process with Palestinians. He did not spell them out but the moves are said to include taking down some settlements and drawing up of the borders of a future Palestinian state.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3238632.stm