Landrieu Pledges to “Hold the Line” on U.S. Aid to Israel

Lauren Samet — October 26, 2011 – 2:49 pm | Democrats | Foreign Policy | Israel Comments (0) Add a comment

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) defended U.S. aid to Israel against calls for its reevaluation. The Media Line’s Arieh O’Sullivan reported on Landrieu’s trip to Israel as head of a trade mission that aims to find collaboration opportunities in oil and gas development between Louisiana (as well as other Gulf Coast states) and Israel.  

O’Sullivan reported on Landrieu’s determination to keep U.S. aid to Israel intact:

‘I support the aid to Israel and we are going to hold the line on that,’ Sen. Landrieu told The Media Line. ‘There are pressures on our budget, but we really value our relationship with Israel and want to see it strengthened. America does have very serious budgetary problems, but foreign aid represents less than 1% of the total budget of the United   States.’

The Media Line article goes on to discuss Landrieu’s recent trip to Israel to explore opportunities for oil and gas development:

Landrieu, who is on her third visit to Israel, but the first in 15 years, met with Israeli Minister of National Infrastructures Uzi Landau as well as executives from Nobel Energy Inc., the Houston company partnered in three offshore Israeli gas fields and is now exploring in waters off the island of Cyprus….

Landrieu said she is visiting ‘to ascertain what the situation here is in Israel so that the service companies along the Gulf Coast can be a part of helping Israel to develop this industry in a very positive and productive way.’

This article can be viewed here in its entirety. 

 

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