IAs old arrangement expires, Israel must decide how much aid to request from U.S...

By Shmuel Rosner

WASHINGTON - Israeli officials have been discussing over the past few months how much financial aid Israel should request from the United States in the coming years. The issue has come up for initial discussions with the Bush administration, and will be raised again at a meeting in Washington next month. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is due to make the final decision on the matter.

The Bush administration this week asked Congress for $2.4 billion in financial aid for Israeli security needs, the highest amount possible under America's current agreement with Israel.

The financial aid issue is on the table once again because the previous agreement expires this budgetary year, after being in effect for a decade.

Initial talks on a new financial aid package indicate that both the American and Israeli governments are interested in renewing the aid in an "orderly manner," as one person familiar with the issue put it, rather than returning to the system whereby Israel has to renew its aid request every year.

Israel needs to make a decision on whether to renew a request for civil assistance, and whether to ask for the current level of security assistance on a long-term basis or request more funding for the security challenges Israel faces.

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