20 feb 2019
Israel said that its security cabinet, on Sunday, decided to withhold $138 million (€122 million) in tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority, over its payments to prisoners jailed for attacks on Israelis.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the withheld cash would be equal to that paid by the PA last year to “terrorists imprisoned in Israel, to their families and to released prisoners.”
Israel alleges the payments encourage further violence, AFP/Al Ray reports.
The PA says the payments are a form of welfare to the families who have lost their main breadwinner and denies it is seeking to encourage violence.
Many Palestinians view prisoners, and those killed while carrying out attacks, as heroes in their conflict with Israel. Palestinian leaders often venerate them as martyrs.
Senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official Ahmed Majdalani accused Israel and the United States, which has cut hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian aid, of an attempt at blackmail.
US President Donald Trump’s White House is expected to release its long-awaited peace plan, later this year, and that the Palestinians believe will be blatantly biased in favor of Israel.
The Palestinians cut off contact with the White House after Trump’s 2017 declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“The occupation government is seeking to destroy the national authority in partnership with the US administration of Donald Trump,” Majdalani said, in a statement.
US AID CUTS
The move to withhold the money comes in response to an Israeli law passed last year allowing it to do so.
Israel collects around US$127 million a month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports, and then transfers the money to the PA.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu pledged to implement the law after a deadly Palestinian attack on a young woman.
He is running in an election scheduled for Apr 9, and has been seeking to shore up his security credentials in the eyes of voters, ahead of polling day.
Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu said, “Today, I will submit for cabinet approval the (legislation on) deducting of the terrorists’ salaries from the Palestinian Authority funds.
“Security officials will brief the cabinet on the scope of the funds. This is an important law which we have advanced, and today we will pass it exactly as I promised.”
The US$138 million will likely be deducted incrementally over a 12-month period, according to local media reports.
Sponsors of the July law on Palestinian funds wrote, at the time, that the PA paid around US$330 million a year to prisoners and their families, or seven percent of its budget.
It was not clear what caused the reduction in the amount.
The Palestinians have already been facing a cut of more than US$500 million in annual aid, by Trump’s administration, mostly to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinian Authority also said, in January, that it will refuse all further US government aid for fear of lawsuits over alleged support for terrorism, due to a recently passed US law.
Israel has withheld payments in the past, notably in response to the Palestinians’ 2011 admission to the UN cultural agency UNESCO as a full member.
The PA, which has limited sovereignty in parts of the occupied West Bank, relies heavily on outside financial aid.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the withheld cash would be equal to that paid by the PA last year to “terrorists imprisoned in Israel, to their families and to released prisoners.”
Israel alleges the payments encourage further violence, AFP/Al Ray reports.
The PA says the payments are a form of welfare to the families who have lost their main breadwinner and denies it is seeking to encourage violence.
Many Palestinians view prisoners, and those killed while carrying out attacks, as heroes in their conflict with Israel. Palestinian leaders often venerate them as martyrs.
Senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official Ahmed Majdalani accused Israel and the United States, which has cut hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian aid, of an attempt at blackmail.
US President Donald Trump’s White House is expected to release its long-awaited peace plan, later this year, and that the Palestinians believe will be blatantly biased in favor of Israel.
The Palestinians cut off contact with the White House after Trump’s 2017 declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“The occupation government is seeking to destroy the national authority in partnership with the US administration of Donald Trump,” Majdalani said, in a statement.
US AID CUTS
The move to withhold the money comes in response to an Israeli law passed last year allowing it to do so.
Israel collects around US$127 million a month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports, and then transfers the money to the PA.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu pledged to implement the law after a deadly Palestinian attack on a young woman.
He is running in an election scheduled for Apr 9, and has been seeking to shore up his security credentials in the eyes of voters, ahead of polling day.
Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu said, “Today, I will submit for cabinet approval the (legislation on) deducting of the terrorists’ salaries from the Palestinian Authority funds.
“Security officials will brief the cabinet on the scope of the funds. This is an important law which we have advanced, and today we will pass it exactly as I promised.”
The US$138 million will likely be deducted incrementally over a 12-month period, according to local media reports.
Sponsors of the July law on Palestinian funds wrote, at the time, that the PA paid around US$330 million a year to prisoners and their families, or seven percent of its budget.
It was not clear what caused the reduction in the amount.
The Palestinians have already been facing a cut of more than US$500 million in annual aid, by Trump’s administration, mostly to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinian Authority also said, in January, that it will refuse all further US government aid for fear of lawsuits over alleged support for terrorism, due to a recently passed US law.
Israel has withheld payments in the past, notably in response to the Palestinians’ 2011 admission to the UN cultural agency UNESCO as a full member.
The PA, which has limited sovereignty in parts of the occupied West Bank, relies heavily on outside financial aid.
15 feb 2019
The US President Donald Trump’s senior Middle East adviser, son-in-law Jared Kushner, said Thursday that the Trump administration would unveil its much-awaited Mideast “Deal of the Century” after Israeli elections on April 9.
According to the Washington Post, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Kushner briefed participants at a security conference in Poland about the anticipated plan but would not go into details for fear of it leaking. Netanyahu told reporters that he looked forward to “seeing the plan once it is presented.”
Netanyahu said he heard nothing new from Kushner besides a reference to a 2002 Saudi Peace Initiative, which offered full Arab recognition of Israel in return for a withdrawal from territories it captured in the 1967 war.
Netanyahu wouldn’t comment on any concessions Israel would have to make under any U.S.-backed proposal.
A diplomat who watched Kushner’s presentation quoted him as saying that Trump had given him the Israeli-Palestinian “file” to give the long-elusive goal of a peace agreement “a shot.” Despite the long odds, he said he believed “privately, people are much more flexible” than their public positions, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity according to protocol.
The Palestinians have rejected the plan, accusing the Trump White House of being unfairly biased in favor of Israel. The apparent rejection of the Saudi peace plan is likely to deepen their belief that the plan will fall far short of their longstanding goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, occupied Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
“There will be no peace and stability in the Middle East without a peaceful solution that leads to a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as a capital,” said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinians skipped Thursday’s conference and asked Arab countries to boycott or downgrade their representation. Some 60 countries took part in the gathering, including five Arab foreign ministers that made a rare public appearance alongside Netanyahu.
Kushner has been working on an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan for close to two years but has yet to release any details, and the release of his plan has been repeatedly delayed.
U.S. officials had said Kushner would make some comments in Warsaw about the conflict. But Netanyahu said ahead of time he didn’t expect any discussion of the peace plan, with the focus of the conference on participants’ shared concern over Iran and its growing influence in the region.
The diplomat quoted Netanyahu joking at some point to Kushner that “having this file” is a “tough one.”
“But, if you are crazy enough, and I think you might just be, you can come up with new ideas,” he quoted Netanyahu as saying.
The U.S. recognition of contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, along with the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in American aid to the Palestinians, have prompted the Palestinians to cut off ties with the White House and pre-emptively reject the peace plan.
With the Palestinians sidelined, Netanyahu has tried to use the Warsaw conference to get closer to other Arab nations aligned with it against Iran.
Netanyahu has long boasted of clandestinely developing good relations with several Arab states, despite a lack of official ties. Bringing such contacts out into the open would mark a major diplomatic coup and put a seal of approval on his goal of improving Israel’s standing in the world, and particularly with Arabs.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu met with Oman’s foreign minister, Yusuf bin Alawi, and they issued a joint video statement. At Thursday’s opening session he was seated next to the foreign minister of Yemen, Khaled al-Yamani, as representatives of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and others looked on.
According to the Washington Post, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Kushner briefed participants at a security conference in Poland about the anticipated plan but would not go into details for fear of it leaking. Netanyahu told reporters that he looked forward to “seeing the plan once it is presented.”
Netanyahu said he heard nothing new from Kushner besides a reference to a 2002 Saudi Peace Initiative, which offered full Arab recognition of Israel in return for a withdrawal from territories it captured in the 1967 war.
Netanyahu wouldn’t comment on any concessions Israel would have to make under any U.S.-backed proposal.
A diplomat who watched Kushner’s presentation quoted him as saying that Trump had given him the Israeli-Palestinian “file” to give the long-elusive goal of a peace agreement “a shot.” Despite the long odds, he said he believed “privately, people are much more flexible” than their public positions, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity according to protocol.
The Palestinians have rejected the plan, accusing the Trump White House of being unfairly biased in favor of Israel. The apparent rejection of the Saudi peace plan is likely to deepen their belief that the plan will fall far short of their longstanding goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, occupied Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
“There will be no peace and stability in the Middle East without a peaceful solution that leads to a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as a capital,” said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinians skipped Thursday’s conference and asked Arab countries to boycott or downgrade their representation. Some 60 countries took part in the gathering, including five Arab foreign ministers that made a rare public appearance alongside Netanyahu.
Kushner has been working on an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan for close to two years but has yet to release any details, and the release of his plan has been repeatedly delayed.
U.S. officials had said Kushner would make some comments in Warsaw about the conflict. But Netanyahu said ahead of time he didn’t expect any discussion of the peace plan, with the focus of the conference on participants’ shared concern over Iran and its growing influence in the region.
The diplomat quoted Netanyahu joking at some point to Kushner that “having this file” is a “tough one.”
“But, if you are crazy enough, and I think you might just be, you can come up with new ideas,” he quoted Netanyahu as saying.
The U.S. recognition of contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, along with the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in American aid to the Palestinians, have prompted the Palestinians to cut off ties with the White House and pre-emptively reject the peace plan.
With the Palestinians sidelined, Netanyahu has tried to use the Warsaw conference to get closer to other Arab nations aligned with it against Iran.
Netanyahu has long boasted of clandestinely developing good relations with several Arab states, despite a lack of official ties. Bringing such contacts out into the open would mark a major diplomatic coup and put a seal of approval on his goal of improving Israel’s standing in the world, and particularly with Arabs.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu met with Oman’s foreign minister, Yusuf bin Alawi, and they issued a joint video statement. At Thursday’s opening session he was seated next to the foreign minister of Yemen, Khaled al-Yamani, as representatives of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and others looked on.
12 feb 2019
The Trump administration has completed its ‘Deal of the Century’, or what it called the ‘Middle East Peace Plan’, framework for a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Fox News reported Sunday, from the United States, citing two senior administration officials.
According to the report, the final draft of the plan runs between 175 and 200 pages in length. The full text has only been shown to a handful of people – less than five – the two senior Trump administration officials say.
President Trump has been briefed on the plan, and approved the “parameters” of the framework.
“The plan is done… [the president] is happy with the parameters of the deal,” one senior administration official told Fox News, according to the PNN.
In December, a Trump administration official said the release of the peace plan would be delayed on account of Israel’s snap elections, but added that there were other considerations which prompted the White House to push back the deal’s release.
According to the report, the final draft of the plan runs between 175 and 200 pages in length. The full text has only been shown to a handful of people – less than five – the two senior Trump administration officials say.
President Trump has been briefed on the plan, and approved the “parameters” of the framework.
“The plan is done… [the president] is happy with the parameters of the deal,” one senior administration official told Fox News, according to the PNN.
In December, a Trump administration official said the release of the peace plan would be delayed on account of Israel’s snap elections, but added that there were other considerations which prompted the White House to push back the deal’s release.
8 feb 2019
Jared Kushner, the United States President's son-in-law and senior adviser, will visit the Middle East at the end of February, along with the US President's special envoy to the region, Jason Greenblatt, to discuss the economic aspects of Donald Trump's peace plan, "Deal of the Century."
Israeli news outlet, Haaretz, reported that the visit will include stops in at least five Arab countries.
The visit will be Kushner's first to the region since the US announced it will delay the presentation of the peace plan until the end of the Israeli election.
Haaretz reported that Kushner and Greenblatt will meet with the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - three countries that could play a key role in supporting efforts to strengthen the Palestinian economy.
The newspaper added that the visit "will focus only on the economic issues, according to the White House, and not on the political, diplomatic and security aspects of the plan."
Israeli news outlet, Haaretz, reported that the visit will include stops in at least five Arab countries.
The visit will be Kushner's first to the region since the US announced it will delay the presentation of the peace plan until the end of the Israeli election.
Haaretz reported that Kushner and Greenblatt will meet with the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - three countries that could play a key role in supporting efforts to strengthen the Palestinian economy.
The newspaper added that the visit "will focus only on the economic issues, according to the White House, and not on the political, diplomatic and security aspects of the plan."
7 feb 2019
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said, on Thursday, that the upcoming Warsaw conference called for by the United States is an American conspiracy intended to get the participants to adopt the US views on issues of the region, particularly the Palestine question.
The ministry said in a statement, “This is an American conspiracy aimed at preventing participants in the conference from taking independent and free decisions on core issues based on their principled positions such as the Palestinian issue.”
The statement said that the State of Palestine will not deal with any outcome from this conference, or any other similar meetings planned by the US administration, and will act as if the Warsaw conference had never taken place.
“The US Administration keeps talking and bragging about preparation of a 'conference’ in Warsaw, which it claims will address the Middle East issue, that is the Palestinian issue.”
The statement added that the US administration has "declared war" on the Palestinian issue from day one.
It stressed that “the malicious intentions of this administration were reiterated by US President Donald Trump in his State of the Union speech to Congress in which he stressed continuing with the policy of absolute bias toward Israel.”
It also said that as a result of this, “The State of Palestine's position towards such conferences designed to undermine and liquidate our cause is that it will not deal with the illegal conference outputs, which will not be binding or of concern to us.”
The ministry said in a statement, “This is an American conspiracy aimed at preventing participants in the conference from taking independent and free decisions on core issues based on their principled positions such as the Palestinian issue.”
The statement said that the State of Palestine will not deal with any outcome from this conference, or any other similar meetings planned by the US administration, and will act as if the Warsaw conference had never taken place.
“The US Administration keeps talking and bragging about preparation of a 'conference’ in Warsaw, which it claims will address the Middle East issue, that is the Palestinian issue.”
The statement added that the US administration has "declared war" on the Palestinian issue from day one.
It stressed that “the malicious intentions of this administration were reiterated by US President Donald Trump in his State of the Union speech to Congress in which he stressed continuing with the policy of absolute bias toward Israel.”
It also said that as a result of this, “The State of Palestine's position towards such conferences designed to undermine and liquidate our cause is that it will not deal with the illegal conference outputs, which will not be binding or of concern to us.”
Members of the United Nations Security Council, with the exception of the United States, expressed regret in a closed session held on Wednesday at Israel’s decision to end the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), an international civilian observer mission based in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
While the United States has argued that it is the right of both sides not to renew the mandate of the mission, established over 20 years ago following a massacre by an Israeli settler of some 30 Palestinian civilians while praying in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, Kuwait and Indonesia, sponsors of a statement expressing regret of the Council members at the Israeli move, argued that it is not Israel’s right to end the TIPH mission.
The US, which reportedly did not believe a statement on the issue was "appropriate" and has repeatedly backed Israel at the UN, blocked the draft statement since it required a unanimous decision to adopt it.
The statement was to express the Security Council's regret about Israel's "unilateral decision" and to stress the importance of the mandate of the TIPH and its efforts to foster calm in a fragile situation on the ground, which "risks further deteriorating, as reflected in the escalating cycle of violence."
The statement was to also warn Israel that it has an obligation under international law "to protect the Palestinian civilian population in Hebron" as well as the rest of the West Bank.
Five European countries that make the 64-person TIPH force have expressed regret in a statement issued on Friday of the Israeli decision, expressing concern that this decision may have a negative impact on the delicate situation in Hebron where some 400 hardcore and extremist Israeli settlers live among 30,000 Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled old section of the Palestinian city referred to as H2.
“Since the UN Security Council adopted resolution 904 in 1994, calling for a temporary international presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, the situation in Hebron remains tense and fragile,” foreign minister of the European countries said in the statement.
“We are concerned that the Israeli government’s decision undermines one of the few established mechanisms for conflict resolution between Israelis and Palestinians and may therefore have a negative impact on the situation. In this regard, we stress Israel’s obligations under international law to protect the people in Hebron and in other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, and its duty to ensure accountability for violations thereof.”
While the United States has argued that it is the right of both sides not to renew the mandate of the mission, established over 20 years ago following a massacre by an Israeli settler of some 30 Palestinian civilians while praying in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, Kuwait and Indonesia, sponsors of a statement expressing regret of the Council members at the Israeli move, argued that it is not Israel’s right to end the TIPH mission.
The US, which reportedly did not believe a statement on the issue was "appropriate" and has repeatedly backed Israel at the UN, blocked the draft statement since it required a unanimous decision to adopt it.
The statement was to express the Security Council's regret about Israel's "unilateral decision" and to stress the importance of the mandate of the TIPH and its efforts to foster calm in a fragile situation on the ground, which "risks further deteriorating, as reflected in the escalating cycle of violence."
The statement was to also warn Israel that it has an obligation under international law "to protect the Palestinian civilian population in Hebron" as well as the rest of the West Bank.
Five European countries that make the 64-person TIPH force have expressed regret in a statement issued on Friday of the Israeli decision, expressing concern that this decision may have a negative impact on the delicate situation in Hebron where some 400 hardcore and extremist Israeli settlers live among 30,000 Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled old section of the Palestinian city referred to as H2.
“Since the UN Security Council adopted resolution 904 in 1994, calling for a temporary international presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, the situation in Hebron remains tense and fragile,” foreign minister of the European countries said in the statement.
“We are concerned that the Israeli government’s decision undermines one of the few established mechanisms for conflict resolution between Israelis and Palestinians and may therefore have a negative impact on the situation. In this regard, we stress Israel’s obligations under international law to protect the people in Hebron and in other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, and its duty to ensure accountability for violations thereof.”
1 feb 2019
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has ended all assistance to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip, a US official confirmed on Friday.
According to Reuters news outlet, the decision was linked to a January 31st deadline set by new US legislation under which foreign aid recipients would be more exposed to anti-terrorism lawsuits.
The deadline also sees the end of some $60 million in U.S. aid for the Palestinian security forces, whose cooperation with Israeli forces helps maintain relative quiet in the West Bank.
The Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA), which was passed by the US Congress in 2018, empowers Americans to sue foreign aid recipients in US courts over alleged complicity in “acts of war,” however, the Palestinians have declined further US funding, worried about legal jeopardy.
A US official “At the request of the Palestinian Authority, we have wound down certain projects and programs funded with assistance under the authorities specified in ATCA in the West Bank and Gaza.”
The official confirmed that “all USAID assistance in the West Bank and Gaza has ceased.”
The official said no steps were being taken to close the USAID mission in the Palestinian territories and no decision had been made about future staffing at the USAID mission in the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
According to Reuters news outlet, the decision was linked to a January 31st deadline set by new US legislation under which foreign aid recipients would be more exposed to anti-terrorism lawsuits.
The deadline also sees the end of some $60 million in U.S. aid for the Palestinian security forces, whose cooperation with Israeli forces helps maintain relative quiet in the West Bank.
The Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA), which was passed by the US Congress in 2018, empowers Americans to sue foreign aid recipients in US courts over alleged complicity in “acts of war,” however, the Palestinians have declined further US funding, worried about legal jeopardy.
A US official “At the request of the Palestinian Authority, we have wound down certain projects and programs funded with assistance under the authorities specified in ATCA in the West Bank and Gaza.”
The official confirmed that “all USAID assistance in the West Bank and Gaza has ceased.”
The official said no steps were being taken to close the USAID mission in the Palestinian territories and no decision had been made about future staffing at the USAID mission in the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
Secretary General of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, Saeb Erekat, said that US aid to the Palestinian security services will come to an end as of Friday, February 1st 2019, at the request of the Palestinian leadership.
In a joint press conference, on Thursday, with Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Erekat said that Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has sent a letter to the US State Department asking them to end the US aid as of January 31st to avoid any lawsuits against the Palestinian leadership under the Anti-Terrorist Act passed last year by the US Congress.
The Act will enter into force on February 1st 2019.
Erekat said, “We do not want to receive any money if it will cause us to appear before the courts,” adding that the new US law states that any government that receives funding will be subject to US counterterrorism laws.
He added that “the US administration has cut $844 million to the Palestinian people and institutions, leading to the suspension of road projects, schools, sewage and water projects. These projects have not been completed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”
He stressed that the cessation of US aid to the security services will not affect the work of these devices during the year 2019.
Erekat emphasized, “We are not in need of this [US] assistance. We simply say, Jerusalem is not for sale.”
In a joint press conference, on Thursday, with Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Erekat said that Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has sent a letter to the US State Department asking them to end the US aid as of January 31st to avoid any lawsuits against the Palestinian leadership under the Anti-Terrorist Act passed last year by the US Congress.
The Act will enter into force on February 1st 2019.
Erekat said, “We do not want to receive any money if it will cause us to appear before the courts,” adding that the new US law states that any government that receives funding will be subject to US counterterrorism laws.
He added that “the US administration has cut $844 million to the Palestinian people and institutions, leading to the suspension of road projects, schools, sewage and water projects. These projects have not been completed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”
He stressed that the cessation of US aid to the security services will not affect the work of these devices during the year 2019.
Erekat emphasized, “We are not in need of this [US] assistance. We simply say, Jerusalem is not for sale.”