The News Behind The News
January 11, 2001
Paying for Peace and Paying for WarDespite President Clinton’s imminent departure from office, Israel now fully expects to receive $800 million in special U.S. aid, above and beyond its ongoing annual gift of $3-4 billion.
According to a senior, high-level source, the special aid includes $450 million that Clinton sought to have included in the 2000 U.S. Budget. This tranche is likely to be included in a special Omnibus Law, which covers expenditures outside the last Budget Law agreed upon between the president and Congress.
In addition, Israel expects to receive special aid of $350 million in the 2001 U.S. Budget.
The extra $800 million is requested to help Israel prepare for possibility of war.
The same high-level source told Globes that an agreement with the Palestinians would have opened the floodgates to much bigger sums of aid flowing into the region, but time has run out for such an agreement before January 20, 2001.
So there it is. $800 million extra for war. Billions extra for peace. Extra aid for war and extra aid for peace. And continued aid for Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.
Are you befuddled by the benefits of U.S. aid to Israel and the Middle East? Is so, read our latest Research Paper in Strategy, "American Aid to the Middle East: A Tragedy of Good Intentions."One is tempted to ask why, if peace is to bring benefits to all parties in the region, the “cost” of peace is higher than the “cost” of war.
But, then, this is the Middle East!
The News Behind the News Archive