Maybe Congress is listening to world opinion.
Leahy did score one achievement, which should not be be counted as a part of the story I was just telling. This achievement is an amendment that will prevent Israel from buying cluster bombs with American aid money. The bill approved by the Appropriations Committee includes a measure, sponsored by Leahy and Feinstein, that would restrict the sale or transfer of cluster bombs. No military funds will be used for such bombs unless "the cluster bombs have a failure rate of one percent or less; and the sale or transfer agreement specifies that the cluster bombs will be used only against clearly defined military targets and not where civilians are known to be present." The Lebanon war is the reason for the passage of this amendment in the Senate committee this year.
Leahy also wanted to change the wording of the 10 year multi-billion dollar aids package for Israel, but AIPAC was on the job:
he sought to change the word Shall to Should wherever the bill says that Israel "Shall" get money. This might seem insignificant to people unfamiliar and not attuned to the legislative process, but it is not. Status symbols that have been in the bill for quite a while now are a serious business. And friends of Israel, in the committee and outside of it, reacted in astonishment to this bold trial by Leahy to use his power and introduce such changes at the last minute.
snip
Bottom line: Israel has many friends in this subcommittee. To name just a few, Daniel Inouye from Hawaii, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Sam Brownback of Kansas and many more. It also has good friends on the Appropriations Committee like Dianne Feinstein of California (also often critical, but in a friendlier manner), Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and others. Those friends, some alarmed by outside observers (AIPAC never sleeps), told Leahy they didn't like what they were seeing. Some testy words were exchanged in the markup session last Thursday. The bill, as it was introduced and passed, does not include the language Leahy wanted. In that sense, one can just treat this wrangling and shoving as if it had never happened
http://www.haaretz.com/...
This was interesting, water is an issue:
Water Authority chief warns of possible shortage in 2008
It will be difficult to meet projected water demand for 2008 if next winter's rainfall levels are similar to those of last winter, said the head of the Water Authority Council, Prof. Uri Shani.
Lecturing at the Hebrew University Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot last week, Shani warned that Israel's water problems will worsen significantly in the coming years unless the production of desalinated water rises sharply. The lecture was not intended for media coverage.
In the wake of Shani's warnings, the cabinet voted Sunday to increase water desalination in Israel by 275 million cubic meters by 2013, bringing the total annual production of desalinated water to 505 million cubic meters by that time, representing one-fourth of the country's water consumption.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
This is good news:
Israel scraps plan for massive new bridge to Mughrabi Gate
In a dramatic about-face, controversial plans to construct a major new bridge to the Mughrabi Gate adjacent to Jerusalem's Western Wall directly through an archeological garden abutting the Temple Mount have been nixed amid concern about possible damage to artifacts, officials said Monday.
The decision to abort the massive bridge, whose construction had been deeply contested by leading Israeli archeologists, effectively means that a salvage excavation under way in the area, which has drawn the wrath of Islamic officials and led to low-level Arab violence in the region earlier this year, will be coming to a close shortly, the officials said.
http://www.jpost.com/...
...wish there was news on the Blair thing, but mums the word for now.
Also, just heard another ship is heading to the gulf.
UPDATE:
Some other news:
Likud Leader Looks the Part of Prime Minister on Tour of Washington
Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli prime minister and the front-runner for that position once again, barnstormed Washington this week in what looked like a pre-emptive victory lap.
In the wake of a recent visit by embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party, met with New York Senator Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, and with former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson, the latest addition to the pack of Republican contenders. The powwows come three months after a separate visit during which Netanyahu met with a number of other leading presidential candidates.
snip
n his recent visits, Netanyahu seems to have taken on the posture of a man who has already won the elections and is now tending to relations abroad.
snip
After another meeting with Thompson, Netanyahu described the former senator as an "old friend."
http://www.forward.com/...
eh??
CNN puts Jerusalem back on the map
Following an inquiry from The Jerusalem Post, CNN has corrected a feature on its Web site that failed to identify Jerusalem as Israel's capital and which had instead listed it as "Jerusalem, null."
The change was made on Wednesday, after the Post contacted a CNN spokesman in Atlanta, where the company is based.