Haaretz: U.S. Congress agrees to extend loan guarantees for Israel for another 4 years
Jul.22, 2012 | 5:09 AM–The U.S. House of Representatives followed the Senate’s lead and passed legislation last week extending the period of American government loan guarantees to Israel to 2016.
Without the legislative action, which requires the signature of President Barack Obama before coming into force, the guarantees would have expired at the end of September. The bill was sent to Obama on Thursday for his signature.
Last week’s Congressional action was part of a broader piece of legislation providing U.S. support to Israel. It follows a series of discussions on the loan guarantees between Israeli foreign and finance ministry officials and American government representatives.
In 1992, the Americans provided initial loan guarantees of $10 billion at a time of massive immigration to Israel. In 2003, when Israel was facing major economic problems after the outbreak of the second intifada, the current $9 billion in guarantees was provided…Read More>>
