President Trump signaled in a tweet on Tuesday the United States could be ending its financial aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if they continue their refusal to cooperate in peace talks.
After tweeting that the U.S. would cease to provide aid to Pakistan for their ties to terrorism, Trump announced that the PA could be next on the chopping block.
“We pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect,” Trump tweeted. “They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel.”
Given that the Palestinians are refusing to engage in peace talks, Trump asked, “why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?”
…peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley also told reporters at the U.N. headquarters in New York City that funding to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) could be cut as well.
“The president has basically said that he doesn’t want to give any additional funding until the Palestinians are agreeing to come back to the negotiation table,” said Haley. “We’re trying to move for a peace process but if that doesn’t happen the president is not going to continue to fund that situation.”
Trump and Haley’s statements come after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared that the Palestinians would reject any peace offers from the U.S. and called for Europe to play a larger role in mediating Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Abbas also refused to meet with Vice President Mike Pence.
According to the Times of Israel, in 2016 the U.S. provided the PA with over $357 million in aid and over $355 million to the UNRWA.
The PA currently provides financial incentives for Palestinians to commit acts of terrorism against Jews, as they funneled $355 million to terrorists and their families in 2017. Abbas himself has rejected prior peace deals and incited intifadas against Israelis.
According to U.N. Watch, the UNRWA teachers incite “Jihadist terrorism and antisemitism, including by posting Holocaust-denying videos and pictures celebrating Hitler” to Facebook.
