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Thread ID: 5661 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2003-03-20
2003-03-20 06:28 | User Profile
Israel to Win Aid from U.S. Iraq War Package
Reuters March 19, 2003
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans to provide Israel with $10 billion in grants and loan guarantees as part of a massive war budget which President Bush will send to Congress soon after any military action is taken against Iraq, U.S. and Israeli officials said on Wednesday.
The aid includes $1 billion in direct military assistance, a steep cut from Israel's $4 billion emergency request, and a bigger than expected $9 billion in loan guarantees that could help Israel weather the economic shock of a war with Iraq. ... The aid would be part of a broader emergency spending package, which one U.S. official familiar with the deliberations said could total $75 billion, including $62.5 billion for defense.
White House budget director Mitch Daniels would not put a dollar-figure on the package, saying it depended on "the conflict and the nature of the decisions the president's made." Earlier Pentagon estimates put the cost at up to $95 billion. ...
Israel is the top recipient of U.S. foreign aid, receiving close to $3 billion in mostly military assistance each year.
Full Story: [url=http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2410508]http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...storyID=2410508[/url]