Fulfilling a campaign promise, Biden’s Israel-hating team in the past two weeks announced a series of foreign aid grants to the Palestinians totaling almost $300 million, all of which and more was halted by President Trump.
WINTwo Republicans have thrown a roadblock in front of the $75 million the Biden Administration wants to give to the Palestinian Authority, saying there must be a quid pro quo from the Palestinians, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.
“Resuming assistance to the West Bank and Gaza without concessions from the Palestinian Authority (PA) undermines U.S. interests,” the statement read. “The PA is spending millions annually to compensate terrorists while the international community pays for the well-being of the Palestinian people.”
Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the lead Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, used their authority to temporarily block $75 million that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had allocated for the Palestinian Authority.
Earlier this week, the State Department announced $290 million in financial aid for the Palestinians that includes renewed funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) – funding that was cut by the Trump Administration.
Risch and McCaul in their respective committees stopped the USAID budget request notification that by law needs to be sent to Congress, meaning the $75 million the Biden Administration wanted to distribute via USAID cannot begin on April 10 as intended, the Post reported. The aid money would begin to flow 15 days after Congress receives the request.
In a statement released on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee website, the two called out the Biden Administration for not ensuring that the Palestinians are complying with U.S. anti-terror legislation that conditions the transfer of funds to the Palestinians on not using it for endorsing terrorism.
We will continue to scrutinize every proposed program to ensure the administration’s actions are in lockstep with the Taylor Force Act and in compliance with all laws governing assistance to the Palestinians,” the two Republicans said.
Named for American grad student Taylor Force who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in 2016, the law blocks U.S. funding to the PA until it stop giving monthly cash stipends to terrorists who carried out attacks and their families.
“Additionally, we are disappointed that the Biden Administration has decided to resume funding for UNRWA without securing any reforms from the organization,” Risch and McCaul said.
“UNRWA schools regularly use materials that incite against Israel and the twisted definition used by the agency to determine who is a ‘refugee’ only perpetuates the conflict,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan explained in a Twitter post Wednesday.
In addition to the blocking of USAID funding, a group of Republican senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling on the Biden Administration to halt aid to the Palestinians until there were guarantees the funds would not end up in the hands of terrorists, Bloomberg reported.
“We call on you to halt these expenditures until the State Department accounts for statutory restrictions and remedies known deficiencies in the distribution of such assistance, which have for years promoted and facilitated terrorism against Americans and Israelis,” the letter stated.
Sick of throwing away billions of dollars on a lost cause, the Arab World slashed funding to the ungrateful, entitled Palestinians by 81.5% in 2020. And now with Biden taking up the slack, the Arabs can spend their money on defense against the Iranian threat in cooperation with their new ally – Israel.
Az gal says
Try they might, but the Republicans are outnumbered.
Nathaniel Calverley says
So the United States is a bankrupt nation and has no hope of ever paying down its national debt. It will soon default on its interest payments and if interests rates go up she is toast. Nobody will by her debt and the house of cards will come tumbling down. So why in Gods name are we giving money to people that fund terrorism against us and our allies and hate us. It is time for this insanity to stop.
Socialists want to bring down America end of story. Once America defaults on her debt the socialists will use this to seize private wealth for the good of the nation. This is there usual plan as well as taxing people so hard we are all in the poor house together.
cuthbert says
crazy joe is directly funding terrorism , isnt there a law against that ?
Linda Rivera says
It’s a CRIME Against HUMANITY to gift HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of dollars urgently needed by jobless, hungry and homeless Americans to the PLO/Palestinian Authority Muslim TERRORIST Organization.
Abbas and other top leaders — monsters; build million dollar mansions, fill their war chests, wage daily jihad and terror attacks against Jews and LAUGH all the way to the bank with highly coveted infidel tax dollars.
Not one more dollar, shekel, pound or euro to the PLO/PA, Muslim countries and organizations and the Jew hater, Christian hater, anti-freedom, power hungry, dangerous UN WHO and the United Nations.
The Announcer says
Turn Coat(Traitor) against America and Israel Joe Biden tries to illegally reward “Pslestinian” terrorists” that Kill Americans and Israelis with $300 million taxpayer dollars.
sweetolbob says
Ask the “cheated in” president if he cares ! It’s much easier for him to feel like a diplomat when he’s giving our money to our enemies. They all love him !
Joe: The great international diplomat ! ……….. Now I have to bite my own tongue and slap my own fingers !
Ouch …. OUCH ! I’ll never write THAT again !
MuhahahahahahahahahaMAD says
I have yet to meet a SINGLE US citizen who wants their tax dollars going to support these lazy, shiftless, vile, violent moslame paleswine — NOT A ONE. has anyone else come across someone who wants their hard-earned US tax dollars supporting these islamic vermin?