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April 1, 2003
To: Officers, Rabbis, Key Contacts
From: Richard B. Stone, Chairman
Betty Ehrenberg, Director, International and Communal Affairs
Re:
Loan
Guarantees and Supplemental Anti-Terror Aid to Israel
Urge Congress to Support Aid
to Israel
The House and
Senate recently passed the FY03 Omnibus Appropriations bill.
Included in the bill is the FY03 Foreign Operations bill, which
funds and earmarks the President’s request for aid to Israel ($2.1
billion military, $600 million economic) and refugee settlements
in Israel ($60 million). The bill also contains landmark language
codifying the conditions President Bush laid out in his June 24th
speech for Palestinian statehood and a provision for requiring a
GAO report on UNRWA-related activities. Not included in the bill
because of budgetary constraints and the anticipation of a much
larger request is $200 million in supplemental aid to Israel that
was part of the original House bill.
Since Israel
is today facing an unprecedented crisis, both economically and
militarily, President Bush has requested Congress to approve a
package of $9 billion in loan guarantees for Israel and a $1
billion supplementary package in anti-terror aid. It is important
that we urge our members of Congress to support providing Israel
the necessary resources to overcome the current overwhelming
economic and military crisis.
Urgent Action Necessary
Urge
Congress to:
Talking
Points:
-
Israel is today
facing an unprecedented crisis both economically and militarily
that could have a significant impact on its future security and
stability. As a result, Israel has come to the United States to
request a special multi-year aid package consisting of loan
guarantees and military assistance to help overcome this dual
crisis. At present, negotiations are taking place with the
Administration and a request, when it is submitted, is expected
to be included as part of an Iraqi war supplemental funding bill
in the coming weeks.
-
The Israeli
economy is now in a deep recession, facing the third year in a
row of negative economic growth. Israel’s per capita GDP has
shrunk by 6% in the past two years. The Palestinian war of
terrorism, now in its third year, has had a powerful effect on
the economy: Israel’s tourism industry has suffered a net loss
of $2 billion per year; foreign investment is way down; the
unemployment rate is now in excess of 10%.
-
Israel is incurring huge additional
costs in fighting the war on terror, in addition to preparing
for a possible attack from Iraq and the increasing threat from
Iranian-armed Hezbollah. Israel has had to increase the
intensity of military activities, including expanding the
activities of army reserves by 400%, intensifying intelligence
operations, and constructing a costly barrier along Israel’s
so-called “Seam Line” to reduce terrorist infiltration. Israel
is also incurring tremendous costs in preparing itself to defend
against the possible attack from Iraq. These homeland defense
preparations include gas masks and vaccines, placing missile and
air defense units on heightened alert, and boosting the
readiness of the Israeli Air Force operations to almost 100%.
As a result, Israel’s defense burden has increased from 8.4% of
GDP to 10.2% - more than three times ahead of the United
States. Because of limited resources, Israel has also had to
divert funds from critical long-term defense modernization needs
affecting Israel’s defense against future threats from
neighboring countries who are accelerating their development of
weapons of mass destruction.
-
The loan
guarantees Israel is requesting ($9 billion) are an inexpensive,
low-risk way for the United States to help Israel borrow money
at affordable rates and for longer periods of maturity. Israel
has agreed to pay the budget scoring costs associated with the
guarantees, so there would be no cost to the U.S. taxpayer. The
guarantees would reduce the other pressure on domestic interest
rates, free up funds for investment in the most productive
sectors of Israel’s economy, and restore international
confidence in the economy, thus helping Israel dig its way out
of this recession. The Israeli economy has basically a sound
base, its external debt is manageable, and its foreign currency
reserves stable. Israel has also recently instituted numerous
economic reforms and severe budget cuts to help ease the
crisis.
-
The supplemental
military aid request ($1 billion) will help Israel meet the cost
of this unprecedented array of security challenges, while
ensuring that future defense needs are not compromised. Among
the items requested are counter-terror weapons assistance,
protected command posts, advanced missiles, and armor-protected
vehicles.
Write or call your Representatives and Senators at:
Representative ________________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: (202) 225-3121
(Ask for the name of your
Representative) |
Senator
___________________
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Tel: (202) 224-3121
(Ask for the name of your Senator) |
RBS
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