The administration’s $230 million dollars for Lebanon has been criticized for being at least one-tenth of annual US military aid to Israel. But there are reports that disparity could get even wider. A high-ranking American diplomat tells the Jerusalem Post the Bush administration would “seriously consider” an Israeli request for more money to make up for the large expense of its attack on Lebanon. Israel says it spent close to seven billion dollars and may ask the US for up to two billion. Critics say an aid increase would bolster speculation the US had a role in encouraging Israel’s attack on Lebanon. Earlier this month, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported the US helped plan the Lebanon war in part to remove Hezbollah as a deterrent to a potential bombing of Iran. In his interview with the Jerusalem Post, the US diplomat denied Hersh’s report but admitted the administration was not surprised by Israel’s decision to attack.