No Economic Assistance for Israel in Reagan’s Foreign Aid Budget

The $14.8 billion proposed appropriations for foreign aid for 1986 contained in the $973.7 billion budget President Reagan submitted to Congress today does not contain any economic assistance for Israel pending a decision by the Administration whether it should increase Israel’s current $1.2 billion allocation.

But the aid package does provide $1.8 billion in military aid as agreed upon during Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s visit to Washington last week, $400 million more than Israel is getting this year, but $300 million less than it requested.

Thomas McNamara, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs, said that while he does not know when the decision will be made on Israel’s economic aid, he hoped it would be “very rapidly.”

Israel has asked that economic assistance be in creased to $1.9 billion in 1986 and that it receive a supplementary appropriation of $800 million to its present allocation to help it with its austerity program.

But the Reagan Administration made clear to Rabin as it had earlier to Premier Shimon Peres, that any increase will depend on the U.S. being satisfied with the steps taken by Israel to cure its economic ills.

In the current budget, both Israel and Egypt, which receive a lion’s share of the total foreign aid appropriation, continue to be the only two countries to receive all their assistance as grants. The 1986 proposed appropriation for Egypt is $2.3 billion in military and economic assistance, an increase of $100 million.

McNamara indicated that despite the upcoming visit here of President Hosni Mubarak in March who is expected to ask for a $1 billion increase, this appropriation is based on the Administration assessment of what Egypt should receive.

Jordan is to receive $117 million, all of it in military aid as compared to $111.7 million in 1985.