by Elliott Abrams
The intent is clear: Congress was aware of the PA's practice of rewarding individuals who had committed acts of terrorism with direct financial support or financial support for their families while they remain in prison. And Congress wants to be sure that aid from the United States isn't paying for this, so for every dollar the PA spends we will reduce aid to the PA by the same amount.
The
omnibus appropriations bill recently passed by Congress contains an
interesting provision regarding the support for terrorists and their
families by the Palestinian Authority:
"The Secretary of State
shall reduce the amount of assistance made available by this Act under
the heading 'Economic Support Fund' for the West Bank and Gaza by an
amount the Secretary determines is equivalent to that expended by the
Palestinian Authority in payments to individuals and the families of
such individuals that are imprisoned for acts of terrorism or who died
committing such acts during the previous calendar year."
The intent is clear:
Congress was aware of the PA's practice of rewarding individuals who
had committed acts of terrorism with direct financial support or
financial support for their families while they remain in prison. And
Congress wants to be sure that aid from the United States isn't paying
for this, so for every dollar the PA spends we will reduce aid to the
PA by the same amount.
Good idea, long overdue
-- but the language quoted above won't achieve that goal. First of
all, why only acts committed "during the previous calendar year?" Does
that mean that payments to someone who committed an act of terrorism
two or five or 10 years ago is exempt? Does that clause about "the
previous calendar year" modify "imprisoned for acts of terrorism," or
"who died committing such acts," or both? Or does it modify all
"payments," which would be the logical meaning: The amount of U.S. aid
is to be reduced by the amount of all payments made in the prior year?
Sloppy, last minute drafting of this provision is the culprit.
The United States
reduces the amounts of loan guarantees available to Israel by the
amounts Israel spends on settlement construction in the West Bank.
There is a procedure in place, whereby Israel tells the United States
how much has been spent, State Department or USAID officials verify the
amount, and then Israel is informed about the deduction.
There's no procedure in
place, as far as I can see, to implement this new provision. The new
Republican-led Congress should rewrite the above provision to clarify
its meaning and establish some procedures. For example, the State
Department should keep a running tally of all PA expenditures on behalf
of all convicted terrorists and their families, and report it to
Congress twice a year. As a condition of receiving any aid, the PA
should pledge to keep a tally itself and report it to the United
States. Once a year, the State Department should report to Congress the
amount it has actually deducted from aid to the PA, and announce this
publicly.
But meanwhile, American
officials dealing with the PA -- in the U.S. Consulate General in
Jerusalem -- should tell the PA the intent of Congress is clear. For
every dollar they spend rewarding terrorists, their aid will be cut by
the same amount -- starting now.
From "Pressure Points" by Elliott Abrams.
Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=11031
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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