Loss of US aid to Palestine over Israel
On January 6, less than a week after Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas signed the treaty to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon announced the PA will become a member of the international tribunal on April 1. (As a member, the PA would be able to prosecute Israel for allegedly committing “war crimes”, such as Israel’s actions in Gaza this past summer.)
Ban’s announcement drew heat from the US Congress, and Kentucky senator Rand Paul introduced the “Defend Israel by Defunding Palestinian Foreign Aid Act of 2015,” which would halt aid to the Palestinian Authority until it withdraws its attempt at becoming a member of the court.
South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham suggested that US law demands an end to funding if the PA brings a case against Israel, citing the Appropriations Act of 2015, which states that funding the PA must be suspended if “the Palestinians initiate an International Criminal Court judicially authorized investigation, or actively support such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.”
[The Weekly Standard]
This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.