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Palestinians to reject US aid for security forces
US aid for Palestinian security forces could end this week as a result of new US counter-terrorism legislation, jeopardising vital Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said in December that the Palestinian Authority (PA) no longer wanted the aid after the new Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) comes into force on 1 February because the new law says recipients of US aid become subject to US court rulings. The Taylor Force Act of March 2018, made US aid to the Palestinians conditional on the PA taking “credible steps to end acts of violence” and ending routine payments to convicted terrorists and their families. The two pieces of legislation, taken together, leave the PA open to prosecutions in US federal courts from US citizens who were victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks.
Efforts in Congress to amend the legislation to allow continued US funding to Palestinian security forces were delayed by the US Government shutdown, according to various reports.
The US reduced its funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in 2018 and cut funding to a number of Palestinian NGOs. The Trump administration has been trying to pressure the Palestinian Authority to re-engage with its attempts to launch Israeli-Palestinian talks after the PA rejected US mediation in response to the Trump Administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
The Israeli Government has publicly welcomed US moves to pressure the PA but Israeli security agencies are concerned that long standing cooperation with the Palestinian Security Forces could be under threat. Palestinian and Israeli security forces cooperate to combat Hamas and Jihadi groups in the West Bank, and inhibit their attempts to threaten the stability of the PA or launch terrorist attacks against Israelis.
Israeli media reported that former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot stressed the importance of maintaining support for the Palestinian Security Forces in his final remarks to the Israeli cabinet before his retirement.