WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Tuesday appeared to threaten to cut off US aidmoney to the Palestinian Authority, saying they were no longer willing tonegotiate.
Trump, in a pair of tweets, said the US paid “the Palestinians HUNDRED[sic] OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect.They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue … peace treaty withIsrael.”
He added: “We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation,off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But withthe Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any ofthese massive future payments to them?”
Trump infuriated many in the Middle East when he announced late last yearthe US would consider Jerusalem the capital of Israel and move its embassythere.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said the announcement destroyed Trump’scredibility as a Middle East peace broker, calling the decision “adeclaration of withdrawal from the role it has played in the peace process”.
Tuesday’s tweets mark a tacit admission by Trump that his decision to movethe US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem had thrown a wrenchinto his administration’s plans to restart the peace process betweenIsraelis and Palestinians. Trump gave son-in-law Jared Kushner the task ofrestarting the effort, and brought his former attorney, Jason Greenblatt,into the White House to lead the negotiations, which he had dubbed “theultimate deal”.
On Twitter, Trump also issued a threat to cut off foreign aid to anunspecified list of countries.
“It’s not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, butalso many other countries, and others,” Trump tweeted, appearing toreference a 1 January tweet lambasting Pakistan for failing to do enough tocombat terror groups while taking US aid. “No more!” Trump had tweeted onMonday.
US leaders of both parties have long utilised foreign assistance dollars, aminor percentage of the overall budget, to promote American interestsabroad, alleviate humanitarian crises and support oppressed peoples.
Trump’s envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, foreshadowed Trump’swarning earlier on Tuesday at the security council. Haley said thepresident did not want to give any more funds “until the Palestinians arewilling to come back to the negotiation table”.
“We still very much want to have a peace process. Nothing changes withthat. The Palestinians now have to show they want to come to the table,”Haley said. “As of now, they’re not coming to the table, but they ask foraid. We’re not giving the aid. We’re going to make sure that they come tothe table.”
Trump’s Middle East peace team had held meetings with Israeli, Palestinianand Arab leaders for nearly a year before an expected peace proposal.
But by recognising Israel’s claim to Jerusalem, Trump was seen by thePalestinians as siding with Israel on the most sensitive issue in theconflict. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in1967, for their capital.