(September 8) - What's the price of the withdrawals being planned by the government in Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights? How much will it cost to evacuate dozens of communities with their tens of thousands of residents, to redeploy the IDF, and cover the loss of vital water sources?
During his visit to the US, Prime Minister Ehud Barak hinted at a sum of $20 billion. Twenty billion dollars that will come, Barak hopes, from the pocket of the American taxpayer.
That's the message that various members of Congress also got when they visited Jerusalem over the past few weeks and held meetings with the prime minister, several ministers, and other senior Israeli figures.
They got the impression that Barak is ready to make exaggerated concessions in Judea, Samaria and the Golan. Security arrangments didn't seem to be worrying the Israeli premier and his ministers. Our leaders didn't even want to discuss America's diplomatic support.
What Barak and his cabinet members were most interested in was the financial aspect. You have to cover the expenses incurred by the upcoming withdrawals, they unhestitatingly told the congressmen. One senior minister even addressed the Americans in the imperative, which upset them. This money is coming to us, the minister said; don't even think of making any trouble in approving the aid.
The US legislators left that meeting feeling awful. "We came to express support for Israel," said one of the men who accompanied the congressional delegation, "but we left with feeling like we're the obstacle to peace. As if without a few billion dollars from Uncle Sam, there will be no withdrawal and no agreement. As if the ball is now in our court."
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