Norway Angry PA may have used Aid to Fund Terrorists

by Eli Leon and Israel Hayom Staff

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide visits Israel, says he is angry at Palestinian Authority after report claims Norwegian aid money went to pay convicted Palestinian terrorists' salaries in jail • Norway asks PA for clarification.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. | Photo credit: Reuters

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide expressed anger at the Palestinian Authority during his visit to Israel on Wednesday, following the discovery that the PA was using Norwegian and British aid money to pay the salaries of convicted Palestinian terrorists serving time in Israeli jails. 

Last month, the Norwegian Parliamentary Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs decided to probe the Norwegian Foreign Ministry after Israel-based media watchdog Palestinian Media Watch revealed that the PA may have been lying to Norway about how the country's extensive financial aid was being used. 

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry under then Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had denied that its money was being used to fund terrorists. Eide, who became foreign minister last September, told the Norwegian parliament's investigative committee that the PA had told Norway its funds were "used to cover canteen expenses" for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. 

The committee demanded clarification from the Foreign Ministry. Eide responded by confessing that his ministry had received "new information" that conflicted with the PA's claim that Norwegian funds were not being used to pay convicted terrorists' salaries, and that the PA may have been misleading Norway. 

Norway's aid is delivered to the Palestinian Authority through the World Bank. The Norwegian foreign minister wrote that while Norway could earmark the funds, that would prevent it from delivering the money via the World Bank to the PA together with the contributions from other donors. The PA ultimately decides how the "budget support" will be allocated, Eide wrote. 

Palestinian Authority President Salam Fayyad reiterated to Eide recently that part of the funds were meant as social welfare payments to families whose principal provider was sitting in jail. Fayyad denied that the funds were used to pay convicted terrorists' salaries.

Eide told Fayyad that Norway found the funding of prisoners convicted of terrorism, along with the prospect that the PA may have misled Norway, to be "problematic."

Norwegian representatives told their Palestinian counterparts that Norway planed on writing joint letter with the U.K. asking the PA "for more details and further clarifications." 

Eide was in Israel on Wednesday for a one-day trip to Jerusalem to meet with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who will head the Israel negotiating team with Palestinians if peace talks are restarted. Eide also visited Cairo and Ramallah on his Middle East trip. 

It is Eide's first visit to Israel as foreign minister. 

Eli Leon and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=8403

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