World Tribune.com

Behind scenes at peace talks, the real talk is about U.S. money

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Wednesday, January 5, 2000

JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Israel and the United States held another round of negotiations regarding the amount of U.S. military aid required for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Israeli diplomatic sources said the latest meeting was last week between members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington and senior State Department officials. They said the Israelis raised the need for a massive aid package that would be implemented after the signing a peace treaty with Syria.

The aid would include advanced U.S. weapons as well as at least $18 billion in military and civilian funding for both development of indigenous weapons systems and the cost of resettling 18,000 Israeli residents of the Golan Heights.

On Tuesday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israel has asked the United States for the Tomahawk cruise missile, with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers. So far, only Britain has received the missile, which was used in U.S. attacks against Afghanistan, Sudan and Yugoslavia.

Haaretz said the Israeli military aid request includes two squadrons of Apache attack helicopters, a squadron of Black Hawk helicopters, a squadron of Hercules cargo jets, three early-warning aircraft, refueling planes, a ground station to receive satellite intelligence in real time and the completion of missile defense project including the Nautilus laser system.

The sources said the amount of aid raised by the Israelis exceeded that of $20 billion. They said the U.S. officials again raised the prospect of severe objections by Congress.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak, the sources said, has already raised the issue with President Bill Clinton. During his current visit to the United States, Barak has been accompanied by senior Finance Ministry officials to discuss aid.

The Israelis and U.S. officials, the sources said, discussed how to convince Congress and the American people to approve such a package. The Israeli Embassy has already launched plans to persuade American Jewish leaders to support and lobby Congress for the U.S. aid.

The embassy plans to highlight the U.S. interest in Israeli-Syrian peace. This would include the need for Middle East stability to ensure the flow of cheap oil, the need to counter threats from Iran and Iraq and cooperation against terrorism in the region.

Both Republican and Democratic members of Congress have begun to express skepticism regarding the size of the Israeli aid request.

Wednesday, January 5, 2000

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