Haaretz 

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-renews-financial-aid-to-palestinians-after-un-statehood-row-1.394237

  * Published 18:04 07.11.11
  * Latest update 18:04 07.11.11

U.S. renews financial aid to Palestinians after UN statehood row

Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee says funds are national security
interests of the United States and that Israel does not object to the
assistance.

By [57]Natasha Mozgovaya and [58]The Associated Press Tags: [59]Palestinian
state [60]Palestinian Authority [61]Barack Obama

The Palestinians are slated to receive some 200 million dollars in U.S.
security assistance after a top House Republican ended her hold on the money.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, informed the Obama administration in recent weeks that she no
longer would block 50 million dollars in economic support funds for the
Palestinian Security Forces and 148 million dollars in other assistance.
Abbas and Obama - AP = sept 21 2011

President Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are seen
during a meeting in New York, September 21, 2011.
                                    Photo by: AP

In separate letters to the State Department and USAID, Ros-Lehtinen cited
President Barack Obama certification that the funds were in the national
security interests of the United States as well as word that the government
of Israel did not object to the assistance. The letters were sent in
September and October.

In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton said the administration has reached out to Israel,
which has an interest in maintaining security aid to the Palestinians, to
help urge Congress to continue assistance. "We're asking the Israelis on a
case-by-case basis," she said.

Ros-Lehtinen had blocked the funds in late August just as the Palestinians
were gearing up to seek statehood recognition at the United Nations. The
lawmaker placed an "informational hold" on the money, seeking material from
the administration. The Palestinians pursued that move despite strong
objections from the United States and Israel.

Brad Goehner, a spokesman for the committee, said Monday that the
administration had provided the panel with some 1,000 pages of documents.

The Palestinians have received about 500 million dollars a year from the U.S.
alone in recent years, including tens of millions of dollars for training the
Palestinian security services. The partial suspension of aid by Congress had
mainly affected development and infrastructure programs being supervised by
USAID but not the support for the security services.

The United States recently stopped 60 million dollars in aid to UNESCO after
it admitted the Palestinians as a member. Ros-Lehtinen stands firm on that
issue, saying recently that she opposes any attempts to change U.S. law that
requires a cutoff of American funds to any UN entity that gives membership to
the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
"That is the right policy, and it must continue in order to deter other UN
entities from following in UNESCO's footsteps," Ros-Lehtinen said.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland commented Monday on the matter,
saying that "it would be most welcome on our side. Our focus had been on
working with members of Congress to make clear why we continue to believe
that this money is important." She added: "Israeli officials have the same
interests that we have in ensuring that we can all support stability in the
Palestinian territories."

קראו כתבה זו בעברית: [62]ארה"ב הפשירה את הסיוע לפלסטינים