Hurricane relief may cut into U.S. pullout aid for Israel

[bemildred]

The scope of the disaster relief that the U.S. government is preparing for the areas hit by the hurricane is likely to reduce the amount of American aid to be transferred to Israel, Army Radio reported Sunday, citing unnamed White House officials.

The U.S. aid was slated to offset the cost of implementing the disengagement plan.

After returning from his tour of the New Orleans region Friday, U.S. President George W. Bush immediately signed a $10.5 billion disaster aid package passed by Congress - an amount he repeatedly called "just the beginning" of federal expenditures for storm relief.

The high cost of rebuilding the storm-ravaged areas raise doubts as to the administration's willingness to fund the Israel Defense Forces' redeployment to areas outside of the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported.

Haaretz

[not systems]

1. $2 billion for 8000 setlers...

$10.5 billion for 1.5 million poor americans...priorities...

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1081952201569_77361401

...

How many settlers are there?

Estimates put the number of settlers living in the Gaza Strip to be between 7,000 and 9,000, living among 1.37 million Palestinians.

...

How much will it all cost?

Approximately $2 billion US with much of the money coming in the form of U.S. government assistance. Each settler family will receive between $200,000 to $300,000 US and the opportunity to relocate to other communities being created for them inside Israel proper.

...