Why the U.S. Won’t Cut Off Aid to Palestinians

Lawmakers want to reduce or eliminate the $500 million a year in aid and security assistance the United States gives to the Palestinian Authority amid evidence that its leaders are inciting violence against Israelis.

While that might be satisfying in some ways, concerns that a cutoff would make the situation worse are likely to win out. Israeli officials oppose such a move, fearing that it may cause the Palestinian Authority to collapse.

He and others also suggested U.S. officials target the Palestinian Liberation Organization, which is dominated by Abbas' Fatah movement, by closing its office in Washington and cutting off funding to incitement activities.

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The PLO is “a bloated and opaque organization that has consistently stymied democracy,” said Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

The United States also needs to think beyond the leadership of Abbas, who's in the tenth year of a four-year term largely because there are no good alternatives to his rule, and nurture a new generation of Palestinian leaders, he said.

“The guy is a pack-a-day smoker, he's not healthy. When he drops dead, we're going to have problems,” Schanzer said.

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