Israeli Loan Deal Claim Irritates Us

Israel has irritated the US by revealing private assurances from Condoleezza Rice to Benjamin Netanyahu that the White House has approved $10bn (£6.4bn) in aid before it was formally announced in Washington.

In a phone conversation on Wednesday, Ms Rice, the US national security adviser, told Mr Netanyahu, Israel's finance minister, that the White House was willing to provide $9bn in loan guarantees to prop up Israel's sinking economy and another $1bn in military aid.

Mr Netanyahu announced the deal to the Israeli press.

But the US state department said a final decision has still not been made.

Richard Boucher, the state department spokesman, said: "The request has been made by the Israelis. The status today is the same as yesterday. We are looking at it. We are considering it."

Diplomatic sources the assurances, given hours before Mr Bush ordered the first attack on Iraq, were given by Ms Rice as part of Washington's attempts to persuade Israel to stay out of the conflict.