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Almost All European Aid to the PA Held Up as Officials Discuss Reform of Textbooks
(Times of Israel) Aaron Boxerman - Millions of euros in EU aid to the Palestinian Authority are stuck in Brussels since 2020 as officials in the European Commission discuss whether to condition parts of the foreign assistance on reforms to Palestinian textbooks. Since EU aid to the Middle East is allocated to all the countries in the region as a single package, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon also have not received aid since 2020. EU official Oliver Varhelyi, whose responsibilities include overseeing European aid to the Palestinians, was appointed to the Commission by Hungary. Varhelyi proposed that $10 million be withheld unless PA textbooks were found to meet international standards. Varhelyi has been publicly outspoken about enforcing stricter conditions on European aid to the Palestinian Authority education sector. "This step by the EU is the entirely predictable result of the Palestinian Authority breaching its own agreement with the EU to take the hate out of the textbooks," said Marcus Sheff, director of IMPACT-se, a nonprofit that monitors textbooks for incitement.