Palestinians see aid cut as latest US move to ‘liquidate’ their cause

JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump’s cut of more than $200 million in aid for Gaza and the West Bank is the latest in a series of steps Palestinian leaders say aims to “liquidate” their cause.

The move follows Trump’s recognition in December of the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as well as his freezing of $300 million in annual funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Washington’s new policy on Jerusalem overturned decades of precedent and prompted the Palestinian leadership to break off relations with the White House. The US president responded by threatening to withhold aid until they returned to the negotiating table, and Friday’s announcement of the cut appeared to be in line with his stance. For many Israelis, the changes made by Washington are long overdue and bring years of failed peace efforts closer in line with reality. But Palestinian leaders argue the White House is playing into the hands of Israeli politicians. Speaking in June, when the US aid was merely frozen instead of cut, longtime Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat spoke of the need to “defeat the American-Israeli scheme to liquidate the Palestinian cause”.

He and other Palestinian leaders reacted furiously to Friday’s announcement, with one calling it “cheap blackmail” to coerce them into accepting terms of the peace plan that the White House has promised to unveil. “America is now sharing in the dreams and the policies of Israel’s right-wing government,” said Palestinian political analyst Jihad Harb.

But for Kobi Michael, formerly in charge of Palestinian issues at Israel’s strategic affairs ministry, Trump’s approach serves as a necessary rude awakening for the Palestinian leadership.