Last year, the US Congress passed an amendment to the Counter-terrorism Law, stating that any political entity that receives assistance from the United States may be exposed to lawsuits in US courts over past involvement in terrorist activities. The amendment was a response to the Supreme Court ruling that rejected a mega lawsuit by American citizens against the Palestinian Authority. The court ruled that the US legal system did not have the authority to hear claims against foreign political entities.
Well, now it does, which rightfully frightens the PA, which openly and in keeping with its laws pays the salaries of an army of terrorists behind bars in Israel—and their families.
And so, over the weekend, according to Haaretz, the Palestinian Authority informed the Trump administration that as of the end of January it would refuse to accept any form of monetary aid from the United States.
Enter the law of unintended consequences: the only thing for which having the PA in the first place makes any sense at all is its security force that often (not always) cooperates with the IDF to prevent acts of terrorism. Now, with the PA refusing US aid, the same security forces will not get paid.
At stake are millions of dollars in cash, training, and equipment, and the regular coordination between the PA, IDF and US security forces.
Even as the administration has been cutting off all imaginable forms of aid to the PA and UNRWA, they found ways to exclude the PA security force, which, understandably, was fraught with legal difficulties.
Which leads to the next case of unintended consequence: according to Haaretz, the Trump administration, in an effort to assure the continuity of the PA forces, has been working on legislation to exclude them from any financial penalties – except that the month-long government shutdown got in the way. No State Dept. staff on hand to work on the measure.
The emerging solution is, apparently, to sneak the money in through the CIA budget, which is clandestine to begin with and won’t be vulnerable to lawsuits.
So that the two halves of the Arab governments—in Judea and Samaria and in the Gaza Strip—have moved to running their operating budgets via suitcases full of cash, one from the CIA, the other from Qatar.
The Oslo deal really is the gift that keeps on giving…