Israel Wants $350 Million From US For New Bases For Troops Withdrawing From West Bank
"WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon notified the US Congress Monday of an Israeli request for the construction of two infantry training bases and a storage and logistics base for a reserve armored division for Israeli troops withdrawing from the West Bank.
The project was valued at an estimated 350 million dollars.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said the bases would be built with US assistance promised to Israel as part of the October 23, 1998 Wye River Accords.
The implementation of the accords, under which Israel promised to withdraw its troops in stages from 13 percent of the occupied west Bank in return for Palestinian pledges on security, stalled in 1999 and the withdrawal was never fully implemented.
Pentagon and State Department officials were unable to explain why the Wye River Accords were now being cited as the basis for a program to build military bases in Israel."