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- [The US essentially stopped all direct US AID grants to the Palestinian Authority since July 1st, 1997. In forthcoming issues of ISRAEL RESOURCE REVIEW, we will publish investigations of the way in which US AID ignores possible terrorist affiliations of its grantees in the PA – DB]
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on his upcoming visit to Washington, is likely to raise with congressional leaders the recent US foreign aid package that forbade direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
The legislation, which was part of an $81.4 billion measure the House passed to finance military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, approved $200 million in aid to the Palestinians, but stipulated that it not be given directly, rather channeled to direct projects outside the PA’s control. The spending bill easily passed the House last week and now must go to the Senate where it is also expected to easily pass.
Abbas is expected to visit Washington soon after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets US President George W. Bush at Bush’s farm in Crawford, Texas, on April 11.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) was one of the prime movers behind stipulating that the money to the PA should not be in the form of direct aid, as a way of ensuring that US money is not used to indirectly fund terror or those involved in terrorist activities.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice indicated at congressional hearings last month that she would like to see aid funneled directly to the PA, which is seen as a way to prop up Abbas. But as a result of this legislation, the US funds will continue to be channeled through the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Israeli sources in Washington said that Israel supports and encourages assistance to the PA contingent upon transparency and accountability, and doesn’t take a stand on the particulars of specific legislation.
Israel’s position as traditionally articulated in the capital is that it supports assistance to the PA within the context of encouraging Palestinian reform and the fight against terror. At the same time, Jerusalem is always very careful about not getting in the middle of disagreements between Congress and the Administration on issues related to Israel, lest it alienate either side.
