Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

US transfers $200 m. in aid to PA gov't
Jul 25th, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday announced that the United States has transferred $200 million to the Palestinian Authority in order to help ease a growing budget deficit.

The transfer of aid directly to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad's budget was an expression of confidence in his fiscal reforms, Clinton said.

"The ability of the United States to provide support directly to the Palestinian Authority is an indication of the bipartisan support for the effort to secure the peace in the Middle East, as well as for the fundamental reforms that the Palestinian Authority has undertaken," she said.

"Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle worked closely with us to make this assistance possible."

Earlier this year, the Obama administration pledged $900 million in aid to the Palestinians, and the $200 million in budget support announced Friday are part of that sum.

Clinton was vague about prospects for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, saying only that she believes the Obama administration is making progress in creating the "right environment" for such negotiations in the near future.

With Friday's aid transfer, donor countries have given the Palestinian Authority government $606 million in budget support this year, covering only about one-third of the estimated deficit of $1.45 billion for 2009, Fayyad said.

The PA has been struggling in recent months to keep his government afloat, borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars from commercial banks just to cover the public payroll.

The reasons for the shortfall include Israel's restrictions on the Palestinian economy, the border blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the failure of some donor countries to make good on their aid pledges, the PA prime minister said on Friday, in a video conference with Clinton.

"We have received aid, but not enough to deal with our needs, and we faced sharp economic difficulties throughout the last months," Fayyad told reporters.

U.S. Officials, Israel to Discuss Settlement Construction and Iran
Jul 25th, 2009
Daily NewsAP
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

Washington wants Israel to shelve any plan for a military strike to sabotage Iran's nuclear facilities, arguing that Obama's offer of engagement and talks with Iran deserves time to bear fruit.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is dispatching four of its most senior foreign policy and security figures to Israel this coming week with the same message on two open questions causing friction between the close allies: Don't do it.

Taking a firmer line with Israel than the Bush administration, President Barack Obama is urging Israel to stop all settlement construction in the West Bank or risk closing off the most promising avenues for peace negotiations.

Washington also wants Israel to shelve any plan for a military strike to sabotage Iran's nuclear facilities, arguing that Obama's offer of engagement and talks with Iran deserves time to bear fruit.

Obama's senior military advisers say a strike could cause more problems than it solves in the short run, but Israeli leaders are firm that their small country in Iran's line of fire must make such calculations for itself.

Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell leads off the parade from Washington.

"He wants to be clear that, you know, all sides are creating the conditions, putting themselves in position so that when we begin a formal negotiating process, we've put ourselves in the best position to have a successful outcome," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday.

Israel's deputy prime minister said Tuesday that U.S. calls for a freeze on West Bank settlement construction run counter to past agreements between the two nations and could undermine U.S. credibility.

The comments by Dan Meridor underscored the growing rift between Israel and the U.S. over the continued construction of homes in the settlements. Meridor, a respected veteran of Israeli politics, is considered one of the most moderate voices in the new Israeli government.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates follows on Monday, and aides say his visit to Jerusalem would be brief and routine. Iran will be a main topic.

National Security Adviser James Jones, top Iran and Mideast specialist Dennis Ross and officials from the Treasury Department and other agencies are all due in Israel later in the week.

The confluence of visits is coincidental, administration officials said.

Senior defense officials said Gates will argue that the administration is not naive in hoping that Iran will yield to pressure to negotiate over its disputed nuclear program, and will stress that the offer is not open-ended. Obama has said Iran owes a response in September to a standing offer for talks, and he has set the end of this year as an unofficial deadline to assess whether his offer of wider engagement is going anywhere.

The Jones delegation is expected to flesh out administration options for further sanctions on Iran should the nuclear overture fall flat.

The top U.S. military official, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, said this month that Iran is perhaps one to three years away from getting the bomb, leaving a small and shrinking opening for diplomacy to avert what he said could be a dangerous nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

"I think the time window is closing," Mullen said.

Emerging Church & Intersprituality Preview
Jul 25th, 2009
VideoRay Yungen
Categories: Contemporary Issues;Apostasy