Illustrative Photo Credit: Thomas Cizauskas [License]

Will Trump allow the US to fund terrorism in Jerusalem and the rest of Israel?

Illustrative Photo Credit: Thomas Cizauskas [License]

The past week has seen a flurry of reports about Obama’s last minute release of $221 Million to the Palestinian Authority (PA) against the freeze order placed on the money by Congress. In the final hours of his presidency, Obama secretly over-ruled that freeze and agreed to give the money to the PA, despite their continued and blatant terrorist activities. This includes the PA’s “salary payments” to convicted Muslim terrorists and their families. The most recent terror attack in Jerusalem, when an Arab truck driver rammed into a group of soldiers on tour in the capital, killed four and injured scores more. That terrorist’s wife is now receiving monthly salary payments from the PA of approximately 2,900 shekels ($760) each month in addition to several one-time payments. This money comes from the funds given by the United States and European Union taxes that are given to the PA. Officials in Jerusalem explain that the $221 Million from Obama will directly go toward this and other similar payments to thousands of terrorists and their families. Jerusalem officials see this as a parting shot taken by the Obama administration against the safety of Jerusalem and all of Israel. Luckily, President Trump’s State Department has frozen these funds again, pending further investigation.

Of note, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the PA, has repeatedly refused to hold democratic elections since 2005. He is currently in his twelfth year of what should have been a four-year presidential term. In addition, the PA has created an alliance between the Islamic terrorist-group Hamas, that controls Gaza, and Abbas’ Fatah party. The new US administration will need to look more closely at their relationship with the PA and decide if their tax dollars should be going to fund a non-democratic group that supports terrorism.

Trump admin puts a freeze on Obama’s $221 million payment to Palestinians

Article Courtesy: TheBlaze.com

After the revelation on Monday that Obama had quietly and quickly approved a $221 million payment to the Palestinian Authority just hours before Trump’s inauguration ceremony, the State Department says it will investigate the matter and stop the payment if it’s inappropriate.

From the Business Insider:

The department said Tuesday it would look at the payment, one of the Obama administration’s final acts in office, and might make adjustments to ensure it comports with the Trump administration’s priorities.
The payment had been frozen earlier by members of Congress after questionable actions by the Palestinian Authority, but Obama was bound by custom and not law to respect the freeze, which he violated on inauguration day. Representative Kay Granger (R-Texas) was one of those who stopped the payment originally, and she was very displeased with Obama’s act, which she denounced in a statement released Tuesday.

I am deeply disappointed that President Obama defied congressional oversight and released $221 million to the Palestinian territories.

I worked to make sure that no American taxpayer dollars would fund the Palestinian Authority unless very strict conditions were met. While none of these funds will go to the Palestinian Authority because of those conditions, they will go to programs in the Palestinian territories that were still under review by Congress. The Obama Administration’s decision to release these funds was inappropriate.
Dr. Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies explained to the Business Insider what the Palestinian Authority had done to make Congress stop the payment originally:

The easiest way to sum it up is that Congress had been looking at various behaviors from Palestine — unilateral attempts at statehood, corruption, incitement of violence, and paying salaries to people in jail for terrorism — and that’s why the hold has been there.
The surreptitious move by Obama was seen by many as another stab at Israel, his last, on the way out of the Oval Office. Trump has made an ostentatious show of support for Israel by saying he would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a policy that enrages the Muslim world because it further strengthens Israel’s claim over the holy city.

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