by Jackson Richman
The Trump administration requested in its 2020 budget proposal, released Monday, that the United States continue not to give any taxpayer assistance to the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, nor to the Hamas-controlled enclave in Gaza.
In the past few years, the administration has cut U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority and Gaza through the Taylor Force Act and the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act.
The United States cut funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, in August 2018.
The administration requested that U.S. assistance to Israel remain at $3.3 billion.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) ceased all assistance to the Palestinian Authority earlier this year, in response to a direct request from the Ramallah-based government.
The end of the funding included about $60 million in U.S. aid for the Palestinian Authority security forces, with whom Israel coordinates in order to maintain relative calm in PA-controlled areas in Judea and Samaria.
The PA government made the request to cease USAID funding because of a January 31, 2019 deadline set by the newly passed Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA), under which foreign aid recipients became more exposed to anti-terrorism lawsuits.
ATCA empowers U.S. citizens to sue foreign aid recipients in U.S. courts over alleged complicity in “acts of war.”
Hana Levi Julian contributed content to this report.
