{"id":58566,"date":"2018-01-07T17:05:18","date_gmt":"2018-01-07T15:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=58566"},"modified":"2018-01-06T15:15:17","modified_gmt":"2018-01-06T13:15:17","slug":"07-05-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=58566","title":{"rendered":"Warning of Aid Cut to Palestinians – Trump."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Trump Administration\u2019s Warning of Aid Cut to Palestinians Is Response to PA Intransigence, Experts Say<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Algemeiner Staff<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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US President Donald Trump at the White House. Photo: Reuters \/ Kevin Lamarque.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Warnings from the Trump administration of a cut-off in American financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority serve notice on Palestinian leaders that Washington expects a fundamental shift in their approach to peace talks with Israel, experts and policy analysts said on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an early morning tweet on Wednesday, Trump declared that the US gives Palestinians \u201cHUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and gets no appreciation or respect. They don\u2019t even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel \u2026 with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s tweet followed earlier comments by his ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who told a press conference in New York that the US president \u201chas basically said he doesn\u2019t want to give any additional funding, or stop funding, until the Palestinians agree to come back to the negotiation table,\u201d when asked about future US funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think what the president and Ambassador Haley are really saying is that the billions in American aid are a gift, not a right,\u201d Elliott Abrams \u2014 who served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration \u2013 told The Algemeiner.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPalestinians ought to think about their words and conduct if they expect the gift to continue,\u201d Abrams said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A leading American critic of UNRWA\u2019s role in perpetuating the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel said the Trump administration\u2019s tougher approach reflected a sense of duty to the American taxpayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe US has been a long time provider of aid to the Palestinian Authority, and in particular to UNRWA, with hardly any accountability or transparency of these monies,\u201d Asaf Romirowsky \u2014 a fellow at the Middle East Forum and the author of a book on Palestinian refugee funding \u2014 told The Algemeiner.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUNRWA has worked toward ensuring the conflict will never end through the perpetuation of refugee status for the Palestinians,\u201d Romirowsky said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike other refugee populations, UNRWA enables Palestinians to transfer refugee status to their descendants \u2014 a population that has grown to nearly 6 million dependents. Critics argue that gives ordinary Palestinians no incentive to abandon the historical conflict with Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHolding the PA accountable is not only needed, but also a requirement for US taxpayers who have been funding this enterprise,\u201d Romirowsky said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The US is the PA\u2019s largest international donor, providing over $700 million in indirect aid to the PA and to UNRWA in 2016. Trump\u2019s warning of an aid cut on Wednesday comes on top of the passage last month by the US House of Representatives of the Taylor Force Act, which similarly confronts the PA with the prospect of an end to US aid as long as it pays generous monthly salaries and other benefits to the families of slain or convicted Palestinian terrorists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Palestinians condemned Trump\u2019s comments unreservedly. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO\u2019s executive committee, said in response: \u201cWe will not be blackmailed.\u201d Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, remarked that \u201cJerusalem is not for sale, neither for gold nor for silver.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump drew praise from a cabinet minister in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government, but also warning from an ex-Israeli peace negotiator of the dangers in cutting off financial assistance to the Palestinians.<\/span><\/p>\n

Culture Minister Miri Regev, a member of Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party, welcomed Trump\u2019s aid comments, saying on Army Radio: \u201cI am very satisfied (Trump) is saying the time has come to stop saying flattering words (to the Palestinians).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But opposition politician Tzipi Livni, an ex-peace negotiator, said \u201ca responsible and serious (Israeli) government\u201d should quietly tell Trump that it would be in Israel\u2019s interest to prevent a \u201chumanitarian crisis in Gaza\u201d and to continue to fund Palestinian security forces cooperating with Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s deputy minister for diplomacy, Michael Oren, praised Haley on Twitter for making clear that there would be material consequences to continued Palestinian intransigence.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the past, every time the Palestinians refused to negotiate with Israel they were rewarded. But no more. Ambassador Haley warns no talks, no US funding for UNRWA. Finally, there will be a price for leaving the table.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Michael Oren (@DrMichaelOren) January 2, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n