Biden Administration Sending $125M to Palestinians

Signaling a reversal of Trump administration policy on Israel, the Biden administration plans to give the Palestinians $125 million.

The money was appropriated in the 2020 budget during the last year of President Donald Trump's presidency, but his administration broke off diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority in 2018 and blocked nearly all aid to Israel's chief border rival.

Congress was notified of the $125 million payout by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department, a source told The Hill.

Planned payments to the Palestinians include:

• $75 million to enrich the Palestinian economy.
• $10 million for "cross-border, people-to-people reconciliation activities."
• $40 million from the 2016 and 2017 budget for security, including International Narcotics Control and law enforcement in the West Bank.
• $15 million to address the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump sought to stop sending Americans' taxpayer dollars to support other countries before our own in his America First agenda, while President Joe Biden has vowed to restore the globalist support.

Funding the Palestinians "is consistent with our values," according to Biden State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday.

"It is consistent with our interests," he added. "Of course, it is consistent with the interests of the Palestinian people. It's also consistent with the interests of our partner Israel, and we’ll have more to say on that going forward."

The first funds to be delivered are $15 million to the Palestinians to address COVID-19, according to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield last week.

They are also the first delivered to the Palestinians during the Biden administration, according to the report.

Trump had offered about $5 million to the Palestinians at the beginning of the pandemic, but it is uncertain if they accepted the funds amid the icy relationship as the Trump administration proved to be more supportive of the Israel side of the long-running border unrest.

The Palestinians also wanted to avoid potential exposure to anti-terrorism laws in the U.S., The Hill reported.

The recognition of Jerusalem as the Israel capital and moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv proved to be a key point of tension between Trump and the Palestinians, along with the U.S. recognition of Israel settlements in the West Bank.

"President Biden has been clear in his intent to restore U.S. assistance programs that support economic development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people and to take steps to reopen diplomatic missions that were closed by the last U.S. administration," acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Mills told the U.N. Security Council on Jan. 26 shortly after President Biden's inauguration, The Hill reported.

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