MM Online - US freezes US$125m funds for Palestinian refugees (extracts):
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But a State Department official said no decision had been made on the funding.
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The funding, a third of the annual US donation to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, was supposed to be delivered by January 1 but was frozen until the US government finishes its review of aid to the Palestinian Authority, Axios reported, citing three unidentified Western diplomats.
The State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “That (Axios) story is very misleading. Just because they were expecting the money on the first, and they did not get it at that time, does not mean it was suspended or canceled. Deliberations are ongoing, and we have until mid-January to make a final decision.”
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According to the report, the United States gave Israel $3.1 billion for Fiscal Year 2017 in direct bilateral military aid (also referred to as Foreign Military Financing or FMF). Congress also authorized $600.7 million for "joint" U.S.-Israel missile defense programs (designed to protect Israeli territory from potential outside threats), bringing total military aid to Israel to $3.7 billion per year.
Put another way, American taxpayers give Israel $10.1 million per day.
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WASHINGTON, Jan 6 ― The United States has frozen US$125 million (RM499.6 million) in funding for a UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees, Axios news site reported yesterday, days after President Donald Trump threatened to withhold future aid payments to Palestinians.
But a State Department official said no decision had been made on the funding.
The funding, a third of the annual US donation to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, was supposed to be delivered by January 1 but was frozen until the US government finishes its review of aid to the Palestinian Authority, Axios reported, citing three unidentified Western diplomats.
The State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “That (Axios) story is very misleading. Just because they were expecting the money on the first, and they did not get it at that time, does not mean it was suspended or canceled. Deliberations are ongoing, and we have until mid-January to make a final decision.”
Asked if any preliminary decision had been made, the official replied: “No. And reports to that effect are false.”
Trump said on Tuesday he would withhold money from the Palestinians, accusing them of being “no longer willing to talk peace” with Israel.
“We pay HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel ... with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?” Trump said on Twitter.
Trump said on Tuesday he would withhold money from the Palestinians, accusing them of being “no longer willing to talk peace” with Israel.
“We pay HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel ... with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?” Trump said on Twitter.
Donald Trump as President of the USA (POTUS) has every American right to aid or not aid refugees. It's USA's money so if Trump wants to withhold US$125 million from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for 2018, while giving Israel almost US$4 Billion per year**, that's entirely up to the USA or rather, its President.
** *Source: The Congressional Research Service's report "U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel," written by Jeremy M. Sharp, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, dated December 22, 2016.
According to the report, the United States gave Israel $3.1 billion for Fiscal Year 2017 in direct bilateral military aid (also referred to as Foreign Military Financing or FMF). Congress also authorized $600.7 million for "joint" U.S.-Israel missile defense programs (designed to protect Israeli territory from potential outside threats), bringing total military aid to Israel to $3.7 billion per year.
Put another way, American taxpayers give Israel $10.1 million per day.
Two points of interests:
(1) It needs to be noted, to make a clear distinction, between the State of Palestinian (still legally non-existent due to Israeli and US blocking) and Palestinian refugees which the UNRWA helps.
(2) If Trump reckons that his aid or withholding of it should convince the State of Palestine to obey his dictates for them to kowtow to Israel and to accept that Jerusalem belongs solely to Israel, then I reckon he has been dreaming.
