Clinton set to visit Mideast, pledge U.S. aid for Gaza
She heads next week to a donors conference in Egypt, then on to Israel and the West Bank.
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is preparing to plunge into one of the toughest foreign-policy issues facing the Obama administration - the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with personal diplomacy aimed at blunting what Washington sees as malign Iranian influence in the region.
Clinton will attend an international donors conference Monday in Egypt to pledge about $900 million in U.S. humanitarian and reconstruction aid for the Gaza Strip after the Israeli offensive there last month. Israeli officials said she would then go to Israel to meet with top officials, and Palestinian officials said Clinton would stop in the West Bank.
The donors conference reflects in part a U.S. effort to move quickly to influence events in Gaza, where the Islamic extremists of Hamas are aligned with Iran and opposed to peace talks with Israel. Hamas is at odds with the other key Palestinian faction, Fatah, which takes a more moderate approach to Israel.
The Hamas-Fatah divisions have complicated U.S. efforts toward resuming peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government.
President Obama will stick to his predecessor's policy of not recognizing Hamas as the ruler of Gaza; thus, the $900 million in aid will not go to the group, Clinton spokesman Robert A. Wood said. Details including the manner of distributing the money are yet to be settled, Wood said.
He indicated the money could be channeled through the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, with a possible role by the United Nations Relief and Works agency for Palestinian refugees.
By going to Israel immediately after the conference, Clinton appears set on underscoring the importance Obama places on continuing the United States' strategic partnership with the Jewish state.
After Israel's recent elections, hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to form a coalition government, but the timing and outcome are in doubt.
Among leaders Clinton would be expected to visit in Israel are Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, leader of the centrist Kadima Party, which won one more seat in the election than Netanyahu's Likud. Netanyahu was asked to put together the next government because he has the support of a majority of the elected lawmakers.
The State Department declined to discuss Clinton's travel plans beyond the donors conference, where she will be joined by special envoy George J. Mitchell.