WASHINGTON, Dec 11: The United States is shifting three Patriot anti-missile batteries from Europe to Israel for a Joint military exercise, reports AP.

The announcement Thursday coincided with’ preparations for President Bill Clinton's visit to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank this weekend.

Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said only that the Patriot batteries would participate with American helicopters in an exercise called "Mobile Shirley."

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile. Republican Sen John Ashcroft said expanding US assistance to the Palestinians was "espe-

cially imprudent given (Yasser) Arafat’s continued Incitement of terrorist violence and his refusal to hand over terrorists involved in the murder of Israelis and US citizens."

Incoming House Speaker Bob Livingston complained that the White House should have consulted senior members of Congress before "committing billions of taxpayer dollars to foreign governments."

Livingston referred to a US pledge of dlrs 900 million in assistance to Palestinians over the next three to five years.

Clinton is expected to seek dlrs 1.2 billion to help Israel implement the Wye River peace

accords with the Palestinians on top of about dlrs 3 billion in annual economic and military aid. Jordan is due to receive dlrs 300 million.

Livingston and Republican Rep Bill young, the incoming chairman of the House Appro-Enations Committee, wrote linton the arrangement "calls into question an earlier agreement with Israel to phase out most economic assistance to that region."

State Department officials have said regular assistance to Israel would be reduced dlrs 60 million a year.

"At the very least, we would

ask you to consult senior members of the congressional leadership on both sides of the aisle before committing billions of taxpayer dollars to foreign governments." Livingston and Young said.

However. Livingston later told reporters he expected the spending bill to pass, despite his reservations.

"The Palestinian people have great needs, and you all must be considerate of their needs, because if they are simply abandoned.... they can never achieve the stability that is necessary to keep them from threatening the security of Israel." he told a group of Jewish

Republicans.

Meanwhile, seven former defense secretaries, all of whom served Republican presidents, urged Clinton not to grant the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard." notwithstanding our strong support for Israel."

"While it is understandable that the Israeli government would urge a review of this matter, we believe that it would be exceedingly harmful to the interests of the United States of America for you to agree to that request," Donald Rumsfeld. Frank Carlucci. Richard Cheney, Melvin Laird, Elliot

Richardson. James Schlesinger and Caspar Weinberger said in a letter.

Clinton is awaiting advice from senior aides on Pollard, a former naval intelligence officer who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison on charges of spying for Israel in the mid- 1980s.

US officials say the matter Is not expected to come up during Clinton's trip.

Israeli officials insisted In October, as Clinton helped arrange the Wye River accords with the Palestinians, that they had an understanding Pollard would be released.