Monday, May 01, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Congress considering Olmert address
Top congressional leaders are considering a plan to have Ehud Olmert address both houses.
The Israeli prime minister is expected to visit in late May and has scheduled meetings with President Bush.
Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the minority leader, have agreed to the plan, and have referred it to their Senate counterparts.
Such an address is a rare honor and would reinforce Olmert in Israel as he launches his term, during which he plans to withdraw from parts of the West Bank.
U.S. terrorist funding czar in Israel
A U.S. Treasury official arrived in Israel to discuss ways of isolating Hamas.
Stuart Levey, the Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, was to meet with Israeli counterparts and discuss “joint efforts to combat terrorist financing,” U.S. officials told Reuters.
Now that Hamas, a terrorist group, is governing the Palestinian Authority, the United States has resisted efforts by France and the Arab League to pay P.A. salaries.
The West otherwise is committed to isolating the Hamas-led government.
The Palestinian Authority is by far the biggest employer in the territories, and P.A. officials say a cutoff in salaries could lead to chaos.
The United States has told banks that have handled P.A. salary accounts in the past — including Israel’s Bank Hapoalim and Jordan’s Arab Bank — that they face sanctions if they continue to do so.
France shuns Hamas official
France denied entry to a Hamas official.
Salah Bardaweel, Hamas spokesman in the Palestinian Authority’s Parliament, said Monday his request to visit France as part of an unofficial delegation of lawmakers had been turned down.
“They gave no reason for the rejection but it was clear I was denied a visa because I am a parliamentarian from Hamas,” he said.
Four Palestinian Authority lawmakers from factions not linked to Hamas are to tour France, Norway, Spain, Germany, Italy and Austria in coming weeks.
The European Union, like the United States, blacklists Hamas as a terrorist group.
http://www.jta.org/
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