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Ramallah and Riyadh

(Council on Foreign Relations) Elliott Abrams - PA Prime Minister Fayyad notes that Arab countries, which in December promised the Palestinians a $100 million a month safety net, are not helping. At the same time, Saudi Arabia reports a $102.9 billion budget surplus in 2012. From FY2008 to the present, annual U.S. bilateral assistance to the West Bank and Gaza has averaged nearly $600 million. In September the EU announced that it was doubling its 2012 aid package from $150 million to $300 million. In this context, the Saudi gift of $100 million in the summer of 2012 isn't generous and isn't enough. Not in a year when the Saudi budget surplus will run one hundred billion dollars.
2013-01-11 00:00:00
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