U.S. may cut $1 billion in loan guarantees to Israel over West Bank settlements

[ProgressiveMuslim]

By Aluf Benn


The United States administration plans to cut about $1 billion from the balance of its loan guarantees to Israel because of its investments in the settlements. The balance currently stands at $4.6 billion.

Washington has not officially informed Jerusalem of the cut. The assumption is that the announcement, and the decision over the exact extent of the cut, will come only after Barack Obama is sworn in as president next Tuesday.

Israel has used about $4.4 billion of the $9 billion in loan guarantees extended by the U.S. in 2003 in the wake of the war in Iraq and to help shore up the Israeli economy. The guarantees have assumed greater importance recently in light of the global economic crisis and the Finance Ministry intention to use the guarantees to secure foreign loans to help pay for the expected government budget deficit.

The loan guarantees arrangement specifies that the U.S. will reduce the guarantees by the amount the Israeli government spends on settlements in the West Bank. The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv monitors that spending and the administration informs Jerusalem of the amount it is holding back from the guarantees.

In the past two years no such announcement was made, but in unofficial talks held recently U.S. officials indicated that the cut would be about $1 billion.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert considered asking President George W. Bush to forgive all or part of the reduction, but no such request was made in the end, in part because Washington did not inform Jerusalem about a reduction in the guarantees.

more...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055585.html

[coruscate]

1. AWESOME NEWS!

We don't need to fire shots at Israel to cause the violence to cease, we just have to tighten the purse strings.

[cali]

2. it's a start.

let's hope it really happens.

[LeftishBrit]

3. That's the sort of pressure that might actually work.

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. besides advancing the cause of peace, this would greatly boost America's credibility and standing in

the world. It would send a message that the U.S. under President Obama might actually even be serious about peace.

The last time anything remotely similar was done was in 1990 under President Bush I - in order to help build international support for the first Gulf War of 1991.

Imagine how much more valuable if this action was taken to help build international support for peace.

[Christa]

5. Terrific!!

Great news to wake up to.

[TomClash]

6. Is this a joke?

The Lobby will march lockstep on the Hill and the "guarantees" will be restored. Money makes the world go 'round - especially for politicians running for re-election. I'm sure Nita Lowey, the staunch Israel supporter who chairs the House subcommittee on foreign aid, will get right on that one.

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. we can always hope...after all as powerful as the Israeli lobby is, they are not all powerful

If they were, Pollard would have been freed a long time ago and Iran would have already been bombed and no doubt the whole region would have exploded into complete turmoil and as a result thus totally collapsing the American and global economy.

So there is a point where American interest does trump the power of this extremely powerful lobby.

Whenever it becomes crystal clear that American interest are imperiled, the power of the Israeli lobby is limited to a significant degree.

When American politicians finally get the message that their antics done for myopic domestic political considerations are imperiling American interest, policy can and probably will change.

[azurnoir]

8. About time Good n/t

[grassfed]

9. BOYCOTT Please Download pdf

http://www.aqsa.org.uk/Portals/0/Leaflets/LF_24_Boycott.pdf

[The Magistrate]

10. This Certainly Should Be Done, Ma'am