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Price tag of Israeli-Syrian deal could
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$17 Billion Question

Somerset Collection
Lower Level near Cartier
248-637-3060

MICHAEL SHAPIRO

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Washington
he price tag of an Israeli-
Syrian deal could prove as
controversial as any deal
itself.
Even as an accord between Israel
and Syria appears far from certain,
Jewish supporters and opponents of
the talks are gearing up for a bruising
battle on Capitol Hill over the billions
in funds that Israel would seek if a
deal is reached.
With details of Israel's aid request
beginning to emerge, pro-Israel
activists are predicting that winning
support for a package that early
reports have put at $17 billion will
not be easy.
Those familiar with the process say
the early figure is a trial balloon
intended to gauge reaction, and the
final cost to the United States will
remain unclear until an agreement is
reached.
Still, the issue is galvanizing Jewish
activists, as well as U.S. administration
officials, who say they understand that
they need to involve Congress in the
process.
Supporters of the negotiations say
that even though most members of
Congress are not expected to return
from recess until later this month,
they have begun educating lawmakers
about the negotiations and the posi-
tive implications a deal would have for
Israel, the Middle East and U.S. inter-
ests.
They know it won't be easy, given
the difficulties they experienced in
securing nearly $2 billion in aid to
implement the Israeli-Palestinian Wye
agreement last fall.
"We have begun the process of edu-
cating the pro-Israel community about
what Prime Minister Barak is attempt-
ing to achieve and talking to key
members on the Hill and their staffs,
telling them that the talks are serious
and that it may require American
assistance," said Howard Kohr, execu-
tive director of the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, the pro-
Israel lobby.
Opponents of an Israeli withdrawal
from the Golan Heights are also plan-

ning to make their voices heard on
Capitol Hill.
Helen Freedman, executive director
of Americans for a Safe Israel, said
members of her group will begin lob-
bying lawmakers in early February to
oppose any U.S. aid to support an
Israeli-Syrian peace deal.
"We are going after the Congress,"
said Freedman, who, along with 40
members of her group, protested last
week at the peace talks in
Shepherdstown, W. Va.
She suggested that the potential
price tag could reach $100 billion and
that by accepting such sums, Israel
would become a "protectorate" of the
United States while taking money
from "Social Security checks" of senior
citizens.
Even before the Israeli and Syrian
negotiators got down to work in
Shepherdstown last week, Israeli and
American defense officials were dis-
cussing details of the aid package
Israel will likely request from the
United States to support a withdrawal
from the Golan Heights.
Late last month, the director gener-
al of Israel's Defense Ministry Amos
Yaron, and other defense officials met
with top Pentagon officials to discuss
the military equipment and coopera-
tion Israel is seeking.
The talks have been described as
preliminary, and Clinton said last
week that the United States is
"attempting to ascertain what the gen-
eral outlines of the costs would be."
But the Israel daily Ha'aretz report-
ed last week, without citing sources,
that Barak has asked the United States
for $17 billion in aid to beef up
Israel's military and intelligence gath-
ering operations.
State Department spokesman James
Rubin described the report as "wildly
premature," but did not dispute its
veracity.
The request includes funding for
new Apache helicopters, a ground sta-
tion for gathering information from
U.S. satellites, Tomahawk cruise mis-
siles, which would give Israel the abili-
ty to strike Syrian tanks, and funds to
beef up missile and laser defense sys-
tems, such as the Arrow and Nautilus.
The aid request includes funding to
help transfer army camps from the

