US denies freezing millions in aid to Palestinian refugee agency

ERIC CORTELLESSA
and TOI STAFF

Decision on slashing funds to UNRWA ‘under review,’ says State Department official; White House rebuffs report of missed January 1 deadline

Palestinians receive their monthly food aid at a UN distribution center in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip in November 2012 (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash 90)

WASHINGTON — Senior US officials on Friday denied reports that $125 million in aid to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency had been frozen over Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s refusal to enter US-led peace talks with Israel.

“Contrary to reports that we have halted funding to UNRWA, the decision is under review,” a State Department official told The Times of Israel. “There are still deliberations taking place, and we have missed no deadline.”

Earlier on Friday, Channel 10 news reported that the $125 million in US funding should have been transferred to UNRWA by January 1, but was being held up because the White House is furious over the Palestinians’ reaction to President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last month.

The TV report said that while the initial $125 million payment had been frozen, the administration was actually considering cutting altogether a total of some $180 million from its UNRWA payments — about half of the annual budget. It said a meeting on the issue took place at the White House on Friday, and that no final decision had been taken.

A White House official also responded to the TV report on Friday, confirming to The Times of Israel that no decision had been taken on the issue.

“There is no existing schedule that obligates the United States to provide specific amounts of aid to UNWRA on specific dates,” the statement said. “The decisions of when to provide aid in the fiscal year, and in what allocations, lie with the Secretary of State.”

“At this time, no such decisions have been made,” the official said.

US President Donald Trump speaking about his administration’s National Security Strategy at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC, December 18, 2017. (SAUL LOEB/AFP)

Relations between Trump’s White House and the Palestinians have been tense since Trump’s December 6 announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The declaration led Abbas to break off all contact with the Trump administration, and he has refused to meet with US officials regarding the peace process, including envoy Jason Greenblatt and Vice President Mike Pence.

On Tuesday, Trump threatened to cut off aid to the PA, asking why Washington should make “any of these massive future payments” when the Palestinians were “no longer willing to talk peace.”

The Palestinians rely heavily on international aid, with many analysts, including Israelis, saying such assistance helps maintain stability in a volatile region.

“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. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more.”

It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening all of the budget, worth $319 million in 2016, according to US government figures.

Illustrative: Palestinian girls at a UNRWA school in Gaza. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly address the reports about possible slashed American funding to UNRWA, Channel 10 reported Thursday that he is privately urging the US not to go through with the cuts.

The report said Netanyahu would publicly back the move, amid pressure from right-wing lawmakers such as Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, and in order not to undermine Trump.

But the Axios news site reported that Netanyahu has been in contact with the White House regarding UNRWA funding and that Israel prefers a “gradual disengagement” from the refugee agency.

In response to the report, the Prime Minister’s Office said: “Netanyahu supports President Trump’s critical attitude towards UNRWA and believes practical steps need to be taken in order to change the fact that UNRWA is being used to entrench the Palestinian refugee problem instead of solving it.”

An Israeli security source also told Channel 10 the funding cuts to UNRWA would make an already tense situation in Gaza “much worse.”

GAL GADOT IN LEBANESE DESIGNER SPARKS BACKLASH

AMY SPIRO

Elie Saab deletes Instagram post touting Israeli actress’s look after complaints.

Gal Gadot at the National Board of Review awards gala in New York, US, January 9, 2018. . (photo credit: LUCAS JACKSON / REUTERS)

Israeli actress Gal Gadot wore an Elie Saab designer gown to accept an award from the National Board of Review in New York on Tuesday night, but there was a problem: Saab is a famed Lebanese fashion designer, and not all his fans were happy with the choice.

Gadot wore the one-shoulder blue dress with a thigh-high slit to collect the organization’s Spotlight award alongside Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins.

The Instagram page for Saab’s brand posted a photo of Gadot in the gown on Wednesday, calling her “flawless.” But screenshots of the now-deleted post show that many of the designer’s fans were not happy with him.

Lebanese TV producer Farah Shami wrote on Twitter that she doesn’t “have a problem with her wearing @ElieSaabWorld but I do have a problem with posting her picture from Elie Saab’s account and bragging about an ex Israeli soldier wearing his dress! Don’t ruin one the few things that make us proud Lebanese people! Elie Saab makes us proud.”

Lebanese Journalist Heba Bitar wrote in Arabic that she loves Saab, but wondered, “Why does it mean so much that an Israeli actress wore a dress from him?” After the post was deleted, she added that his team “was smart enough to remove the post when people started commenting. Anyway they should be more cautious.”

While Saab’s account pulled the photo, it didn’t offer any explanation or apology for doing so. Gadot’s Instagram post from the awards ceremony didn’t mention the designer. Saab did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When Wonder Woman – the smash superhero hit of the summer – was released, Lebanon moved to ban the film since Gadot is an IDF veteran. Lebanon also bans its citizens from entering Israel.

‘Murdering Jews is the most lucrative profession’

Lital Shemesh

Journalist Lital Shemesh explains why the terrorist who murdered three members of the Salomon family is smiling in court. Opinion.

Terrorist Omar al-Abed, responsible for slaughter in Halamish (Neve Tzuf)Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

The Ofer military court on Friday morning began hearing the defense and prosecution’s views on sentencing the terrorist who killed three members of the Salomon family in July.

The military prosecution demands 19-year-old Omar al-Abed be sentenced to three life sentences for the murders and a fourth life sentence for attempting to murder the rest of the family.

Photos of the al-Abed in court show him smiling widely, possibly because he knows that for every month he sits in prison, he and his family will receive dozens of thousands of shekels in monthly payments from the Palestinian Authority (PA).

In addition, al-Abed is aware of the fact that as he sits in prison, his colleagues are planning ways to release him.

Potential terrorists know that today, the most lucrative occupation in the PA is killing Jews.

The more Jews you kill, the more money you’ll receive. Whether or not the bill to sentence terrorists to death becomes law, the Israeli government must understand that the PA’s incentives and indulgences, as well as the terrorists’ families’ visits, must cease.

Al-Abed was convicted on Wednesday of three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and incitement.

Howard Stern blasts Lorde for canceling Israel show

Ben Ariel

Popular shock-jock suggests New Zealand pop star is anti-Semitic after she cancels Tel Aviv concert.

Howard Stern (Reuters)

Popular U.S. shock-jock Howard Stern took a shot at New Zealand pop star Lorde this week, after she canceled an upcoming show in Israel amid pressure by supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS).

Stern, an ardent supporter of Israel and constant critic of musicians who refuse to take the stage there, blasted Lorde on his Sirius XM radio show, saying the singer likely has a problem with Jewish people.

“She has no problem with Russia. The only place in the world where she can’t play is Israel. So what do you think’s going on? What’s the one thing about Israel that’s different than all other places. There’s Jews there … I hope Lorde has a good time in Russia,” he said, as quoted by The Washington Free Beacon.

“Anti-Semitism is on the rise. I’m so [expletive] sick of it,” Stern said, adding about Lorde, “One hit song this girls’ living off of.”

News of the cancellation of Lorde’s June concert in Tel Aviv came days after pro-Palestinian Arab fans in her native New Zealand criticized her. Israeli concert organizers announced the cancellation and said ticket sales would be refunded.

Lorde later justified her decision, claiming it was the right one and adding, “I pride myself on being an informed young citizen, and I had done a lot of reading and sought a lot of opinions before deciding to book a show in Tel Aviv, but I’m not too proud to admit I didn’t make the right call on this one. Tel Aviv, it’s been a dream of mine to visit this beautiful part of the world for many years, and I’m truly sorry to reverse my commitment to come play for you. I hope one day we can all dance.”

In the past, Stern also has blasted former Pink Floyd frontman and notorious anti-Israel activist Roger Waters for his vocal criticism of Israel and effort to get various artists to cancel concerts there.

Waters, who regularly pressures artists not to perform in Israel, last week was one of 100 artists who signed an open letter in support of Lorde.

The letter of support by the group of artists was a response to U.S. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who published a full page advertisement in the Washington Post in which he called Lorde a Jew-hating “bigot” and a hypocrite on human rights issues.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)

NEW CIA DOCUMENTS SHOW JORDAN’S KING HUSSEIN HAD LOVECHILD WITH AMERICAN JEWISH ACTRESS

DANIEL J. ROTH

Jordan’s King Hussein reviews Beduin guards of honor in 1992. (photo credit: REUTERS)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Recently declassified CIA documents show that King Hussein of Jordan had a child out of wedlock with an American Jewish actress, who was later beaten to death by their son.

A three-page CIA memo, made public for the first time last month, shows that the spy agency was eager to make a good impression on the Arab monarch during an official state visit in 1959, according to USA Today. The file reveals that the 24-year-old king, having divorced his first wife two years earlier, “was especially desirous of female companionship during his Los Angeles visit and it was requested that appropriate arrangements be made through a controlled source of the Office in order to assure a satisfied visit.”

As Hussein sought to secure financial aid from the Kennedy administration during the trip, the spy agency arranged a meet with a 32-year-old B-list movie actress named Susan Cabot.

The memo shows that the clandestine security service went through a ‘prominent’ LA attorney employed by eccentric Hollywood movie producer and aeronautics pioneer Howard Hughes, who invited Cabot to a party thrown by billionaire oilman Edwin Pauley.

But before attending the tycoon’s festive affair, Cabot (born Harriet Shapiro) was told by her handler “We want you to go to bed with him.”
“The actress said that she rejected the proposal but finally went to [Hussein’s] party,” the memo states. She later ‘became quite taken with the foreign official and found him to be most charming.”

A few days later the king asked the CIA arrange another meeting with Cabot, this time in New York City.

Susan Cabot, born Harriet Shapiro, photographed in 1950. (PUBLIC DOMAIN / LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS – UCLA LIBRARY)

As the memo notes, the two struggled to keep rumors of their budding relationship at bay, with the Muslim monarch concerned his romance with a Jewish actress could cause political turmoil in his home country.

‘[Cabot] speculated about the possible sources of certain personal information that she felt had been leaked to the press’ and implored the CIA to help put an end to the tabloid gossip, according to the declassified document.

It remains unclear how long Cabot and the King maintained their relationship. But in 1961, she gave birth to a boy named Timothy, long-rumored to be Hussein’s son.

Born a dwarf, Timony was later adopted by Cabot’s second husband, Michael Roman.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Cabot’s son eventually grew to 5’4” following “thrice-weekly injections of a hormone derived from the pituitary glands of cadavers. A former attorney once called him a ‘failed human experiment.’”

In 1986, Cabot was found bludgeoned to death with a weightlifting bar in her San Fernando Valley home, leading to her son’s arrest. Timothy was later charged with involuntary manslaughter, claiming his mother, who suffered from mental illness, attacked him first.

He blamed his aggressive response to the incident on use of illegal narcotics.

During Timothy’s trial, it was revealed in court that Cabot had received a monthly payment of $1,500 from the Jordanian government.

An attorney in the trial wrote in court filings: “For better or worse, it looks like child support.”

Timony Roman was sentenced to four years in prison and a minimum sentence of probation, dying of heart failure in 2003.

King Hussein married three more times, his last to American Lisa Halaby, who became Queen Noor. He led Jordan until his death from Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1999 at the age of 63.