An interesting day in Congress for Israel..

Israel had an interesting day in Congress right before they adjourned for the elections.

On the one hand, the Bush administration continued with its policy of picking and choosing which Islamic terrorists it likes by blocking further sanctions against Palestinian Authority.

As I reported here, Congresswoman Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in the House and Senator McConnell in the Senate have exhibited some rare common sense in submitting bills caling for what's essentially an end to the US spending taxpayer dollars to fund the Palestinians. While the two bills differ slightly, they are both intended to stop aid to the Palestinian Authority and prevent ties with PA officials. It specifically increases the restrictions on funding for so-called non-government groups (NGOs) working in the Palestinian territories...which is exactly how a lot of money used to fund the war against the Jews gets sneaked into Hamas and Fatah's coffers.


Of course, we can't have that now, can we?

The Bush administration pulled out all the stops to keep this legislation from becoming a bill. Congress adjourned Friday for its election recess without taking action on the legislation, and none other than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice intervened personally, calling Senate majority whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and urging him to reconsider an initiative to include the Palestinian sanctions in an omnibus bill.

Here's a giggle...the Bush administration apparently `does not feel the time is right for strengthening sanctions against the Palestinians' and wants to prevent Congress from tying its hands when dealing with moderate Palestinian leaders'. By that of course, the President means Arafat II Mahmoud Abbas.

Senator McConnell's press secretary, Robert Steurer, would not address the negotiations between Congress and the administration about the Palestinian sanctions issue, stating that the omnibus bill will only be considered after congress returns from recess, "so it's too early to discuss what's going to be included in the bill."

Now here's a question...if Bush is still so committed to the idea of `Arab democracy', why is he trying to subvert a democratically elected Hamas government? There's nothing written in stone that says we should give a red cent to these people, but where does he get the gall to try and support the Fatah opposition, just because Abbas is a better con man and covers Fatah's version of Palestinian terrorism better than Hamas does?

On the other side of the coin, Congress okayed massive joint funding for US-Israeli defence programs, including
including $20 million for the development of a short-range ballistic missile defense system.

The funding, approved as part of the defense appropriations bill, is double the amount the administration initially requested for joint projects..the whole package totals over $460 million, represents a huge increase in funding and is not part of the aid package the US gives to Israel...80% of which is spent on weaponry manufactured here in the US.

Large components includethe Arrow anti-missile system, which will receive $135 million for coproduction of the system components in the US and for developing improvements, the Litening targeting and navigation pod, an Israeli development which increases the striking ability of aircraft and two unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) projects, the Hunter and the Pioneer, which were funded with $35m.

Congress also gave final approval to a previous decision to provide $137m. for special tiles to protect Bradley armored fighting vehicles against anti-tank missiles.

Essentially, this allows the US and Israel to cooperate on developing joint weapons systems for use by both countries, with the US providing funding to enable Israeli high tech to work with American scientists.

I guess that's called a kiss with one hand and a slap with the other...go figure!