Israel looked on Monday to international support for its pull-out from the Gaza Strip, requesting a multibillion-dollar aid package from the United States and lobbying for European Union backing from visiting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
A senior aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said officials who have travelled to Washington will be seeking a package of aid amounting to about $2,2-billion to help cushion the impact of next month’s withdrawal.
”This package, which will require approval from the American Congress, could take the form of a combination of grants, loans or bank guarantees,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Israel had been on track to extract $500-million from Washington to help finance the pull-out, but in initial talks, the Americans said they were prepared to grant Israel ”generous aid”, according to a report on public radio.
The money will cover the cost of relocating military bases to Israel and improving security on the Egyptian-Israeli border after the pull-out.
The rest will be used to develop the Galilee and Negev regions, where many of the settlers from Gaza are likely to be rehoused.
Led by the director generals of the prime minister’s office and the finance ministry, Ilan Cohen and Yossi Bachar, and including various security officials, the delegation left Israel late last week.
The officials are to meet a group of US officials including Elliott Abrams, Deputy National Security Adviser.
Washington’s annual aid to Israel amounts to about $3-billion, including $2-billion in military outlay.
Israel’s operation to evacuate all 8 000 Jewish settlers living in Gaza, as well as the inhabitants of four small Jewish enclaves in the northern West Bank, is to begin in mid-August.
While hugely contentious in Israel, the move has won widespread international backing, including from the EU.
Solana said the 25-nation bloc wants to do its bit to ensure the success of the pull-out as he began a four-day visit to the region.
”We would like to be of help, if possible … help economically, help politically and help from a security point of view,” the Spanish diplomat told reporters ahead of a meeting with Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom.
Solana called the disengagement from Gaza a ”courageous decision”, but made it clear that the EU wants it to help revive the bilateral peace process.
”It is vital we continue to re-energise the peace process,” he said.
Shalom urged Solana, who is to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas later in the week, to exert his ”full influence on the Palestinian Authority so that it dismantles the terror infrastructure and prevents attacks during the withdrawal from Gaza”.
”I’m sure you’ll do all you can to narrow the gaps between the Israelis and Palestinians,” he added in reference to major sticking points such as the issue of a safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
In an interview published on Sunday, Abbas said negotiations with Israel on a safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and re-opening Gaza airport, are going well.
Solana’s trip coincides with a visit by former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, who was recently appointed as the international community’s special envoy for the pull-out.
Wolfensohn, who met the Palestinian leadership over the weekend, was on Monday meeting with Israeli officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres. — Sapa-AFP