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Thursday, July 28, 2005
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Arms and the allies
The United States reportedly is demanding that Israel’s defense minister apologize in writing for a dispute over arms exports.
Shaul Mofaz was expected to fly to Washington last week to sign an accord with the Pentagon that would clarify terms for Israeli weapons sales to China and India, but called off the trip after American officials made the demand for an apology, Ha’aretz reported Wednesday. According to the report, Israel had been willing to submit to exacting Pentagon restrictions on its exports, but the personal spat has put the whole accord in question. A spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Washington said, “Consultations on this issue with the administration continue.”
The United States has accused Israel of endangering an Asian ally, Taiwan, by selling advanced combat drones to China. Jerusalem denies wrongdoing but reshuffled top defense officials soon after receiving the U.S. complaints. Israel also fears that U.S. complaints may be motivated in part by a desire to freeze out Israeli competition for lucrative international contracts.
On Wednesday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack would say only that the sides “have several technical matters that they have to resolve still.”
House passes CAFTA
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which Central American Jews supported but which had divided U.S. Jewish groups.
The act passed 217-215 late Wednesday after heavy administration lobbying in favor. It was passed by the Senate and now goes to President Bush, who has said he will sign it. Jews from the six nations involved backed their governments in lobbying for the agreement, which eliminates import dues and quotas, as did the American Jewish Committee, which has a Latin American institute.
The American Jewish World Service, which strongly opposed the bill, said the agreement is a disaster that ignores the needs of workers in the region.
Israeli named to U.N. post
An Israeli was named deputy chairman of the U.N. Disarmament Commission.
The Foreign Ministry’s Meir Itzchaki will hold the post, the Jerusalem Post reported. The commission is a subcommittee of the U.N. General Assembly that serves as an advisory body to the assembly on nuclear and conventional arms.
http://jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 10:30 PM Permanent Link
 
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