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Should the U.S. Continue to Fund the Palestinians Regardless of Their Intransigence?

(National Interest) Brett D. Schaefer - Since the 1990s, according to the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. has given the Palestinians $5 billion in bilateral economic assistance. It has supported the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) to the tune of $6 billion. Despite this support, the Palestinians have repeatedly walked away from peace negotiations, refused to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, instigated violence against Israel, and used the UN to attack and harass Israel by, among other efforts, working to pass three times as many General Assembly resolutions condemning Israel as the rest of the world's countries combined. The sad truth is that, over the past two decades, the United States has established a pattern of funding the Palestinians regardless of their intransigence and provocations. Contrary to the wishes of multiple American administrations, the Palestinians continue their effort to achieve recognition absent a peace agreement with Israel. They also use international organizations like the ICC, UNESCO, and the Human Rights Council to isolate, harass, and condemn Israel. Why change their behavior when they believe that there will be no diplomatic or financial repercussions? This pattern must be broken. Leaving aside the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, the U.S. should withhold contributions to UNRWA until it implements critical reforms. In the medium term, Washington should seek to eliminate UNRWA, shifting responsibility for recent Palestinian refugees resulting from the war in Syria to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The writer is a Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs at The Heritage Foundation.
2018-01-16 00:00:00
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