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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel Turns Over $100 Million To Abbas |
| 2007-01-19 |
| Peretz puts West Bank settlement on hold Israel freed $100 million in frozen tax funds and transferred the money to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, an official in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said Friday. The transfer, made Thursday night, gives the moderate leader a boost ahead of crucial weekend talks in Damascus with the top Hamas leader. It is the first such Israeli payment since the militant Islamic Hamas won control of the Palestinian government last March. In another helpful development for Abbas, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz rescinded a controversial decision to authorize a new West Bank settlement, a ministry spokesman said. Abbas is to travel to Syria Saturday for talks with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, aiming at forging a coalition government and ending a punishing international aid boycott. Talks have sputtered for months amid clashes between each side's loyalists which have killed 35 people, but the fact that the two leaders were meeting hinted that an agreement might be finally at hand, though key obstacles remained. The financial transfer to Abbas was part of tax money Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority under partial peace accords. Israel halted payment of the revenues when Hamas won parliamentary elections and set up its Cabinet. The Israeli official said the money would be transferred directly to Abbas for use in humanitarian efforts and to boost his security force. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been formally announced, said Israel was satisfied by assurances that the money would not go to the Palestinian Finance Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas. The move to free up the funds did not come with out backlash in Israel. CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports some critics say easing the boycott will free up money for Hamas to buy weapons and fund terrorism. Meanwhile, Peretz ordered plans for the Maskiot settlement frozen indefinitely "in order to look carefully at the implications," Defense Ministry officials said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. The officials said Peretz had ordered the freeze "several weeks ago." Berger says the decision came after the U.S. described the project as a violation of the internationally-backed roadmap peace plan, which bans construction of new settlements. Israel claimed that it was simply resurrecting an existing settlement that had been abandoned, but with the U.S. pushing for renewed peace talks, Israel froze the settlement plan. Israel has been trying to boost Abbas in his struggle with Hamas, which rejects the existence of a Jewish state in an Islamic Middle East. However, such efforts can backfire, as Palestinians of all stripes try to distance themselves from the Israelis. A recent report that Israel had approved an arms shipment for Abbas' forces drew angry denials. The scheduled Abbas-Mashaal meeting would be the first between the two in years. Abbas' Fatah and Hamas are bitter enemies — their efforts to form a unity government must overcome deep ideological and political divides. Only the hardships caused by the Western aid cutoff have pushed them together, forcing them to look for formulas each party could live with — while satisfying Western demands that the Palestinian government recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace accords. So far Hamas has refused. This article also ties in news about a third story, the death of the child of a Palestinian "peace" activist, which someone can post seperately if they want. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #8 Pouring gasoline on the fire? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-01-19 19:42 |
| #7 It gives them something to fight over... |
| Posted by: James 2007-01-19 15:41 |
| #6 abbas is killing Hamasniks. Thats worth a fair amount of change to me. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2007-01-19 14:25 |
| #5 This is as stupid as our President proposing to give Abbas and his cohorts $87 million for "security needs". Handing your enemies money is stupidly suicidal. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-01-19 12:06 |
| #4 Ahhh yes. Another modern PC Politician demonstrating the "Anti-Midas Touch" - turning gold into lead...... |
| Posted by: OyVey1 2007-01-19 08:39 |
| #3 I'm seein' a shiny new bullet-proof Mercedes in Abbas' future. Soundproofed so as not to be bothered by the gunfire. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2007-01-19 08:29 |
| #2 That'll buy a lot of explosives and rockets. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-01-19 08:15 |
| #1 That should cover his trip to Damascus. Now what are they going to do next week? |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-01-19 08:03 |