This report discusses issues related to peace in the Middle East, including post-Gulf War negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon; U.S. interest in these and continuing negotiations and peacetalks between Middle Eastern countries; and the role of the U.S., the U.N., the European Union, and Russia in Middle Eastern relations.

The United States began contacts with the PalestineLiberationOrganization (PLO)in December 1988, after the PLO accepted Israel’s right to exist, accepted U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338 that call for an exchange of land for peace, and renounced terrorism. The United States continues its contacts with the PLO and the Palestinian Authority elected in January 1996 and is an active broker in the continuing Middle East peace process.

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This report provides an overview of U.S. foreign assistance to Israel. It includes a review of past aid programs, data on annual assistance figures, and an analysis of current issues. The report will be updated annually to reflect developments over the previous year. For the most recent action on aid to Israel, see CRS Issue Brief IB82008, Israel: Background and Relations with the United States, by Carol Migdalovitz. For information on overall U.S. assistance to the Middle East, see CRS Report RL32260, U.S. Foreign Assistance to the Middle East: Historical Background, Recent Trends, and the FY2006 Request, by Jeremy M. Sharp.