To the editor:

I am concerned about the lack of coverage in the Journal-World of the upcoming congressional vote on Israel’s request for $12 billion in additional financial aid. Israel, comprising 1/1,000th of the world’s population and with an average per capita income higher than that of the United States, already receives one-third of the total U.S. foreign aid budget.

Additional aid to Israel is a disincentive to end the military occupation of Palestinian territory and return to peace negotiations. It undermines both the efforts of Israelis trying to gain a just peace and the U.S. ability to negotiate with Arab and Muslim nations to stop terrorism.

The current Israeli government justifies its military occupation as necessary to protect its citizens from suicide bombings. These bombings must be condemned, but the desire for self-protection cannot explain the land seizures, continuation of Israeli settlement building, destruction of water wells and farmland, house demolitions, or the dumping of raw sewage onto the streets of Palestinian villages. Americans need to understand we are paying for an illegal, brutal occupation, and this uneven U.S. support for Israel underlies the anti-U.S. sentiment in the Arab world.

A much more effective use of U.S. aid to Israel would involve linking additional grants and loans to Israeli’s withdrawal from Palestinian territories taken since 1967, guarantee of a Palestinian state, and acceptance of peacekeepers to provide security for both peoples.

Citizens desiring a just peace in the Middle East should tell their legislators to oppose additional unrestricted aid to the Sharon government.

Judy Bonifield,

Lawrence