Haaretz
Adar 7, 5766
About a dozen senators sponsored a
bill on Monday that would restrict non-humanitarian U.S. aid to the new
Palestinian government being formed by Hamas unless it renounces terrorism
and publicly recognizes Israel's right to exist.
The bipartisan
bill, which is less sweeping than a companion measure in the House of
Representatives, would allow food, medicine and other humanitarian aid
that does not go through the Palestinian government to continue, as well
as funding for democracy programs.
It would give President George
W. Bush more leeway to waive limits on diplomatic contacts and other
restrictions than the tougher House version.
Hamas, which has been
dedicated to Israel's destruction, won Palestinian elections in January
over the Fatah party and is in the process of forming a new
government.
"Both Sen. Biden and I appreciate the need not to
punish the Palestinian people for actions its future government may take,"
said Senate Republican Whip Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
McConnell,
Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware,
the Democrat on the the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were among the
bill's sponsors.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a
pro-Israel lobbying organization, was expected to send members to Capitol
Hill on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to back both bills.
The House
bill, which has not been endorsed by the Bush administration, would
restrict non-humanitarian assistance through non-governmental
organizations, cut diplomatic contacts with the Palestinian Authority and
treat it as a terrorist entity.
The bill would also close the
authority's offices in the United States and withhold U.S. funds to the
United Nations equal to the amount the world body provides the
Palestinians.
The Senate bill makes more room for the
administration to deal with the Palestinians and has somewhat less
stringent requirements for the new government.
The Senate bill
would restrict aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it is determined
that no government ministry is controlled by terrorists. The Hamas
government must also recommit itself to previous agreements with Israel,
make progress toward dismantling any terrorist infrastructure and
institute fiscal transparency.
Israel, donor nations consider
funneling PA aid via World Bank
Israel and donor nations are
discussing a proposal to funnel most international aid to the Palestinians
through the World Bank, in a bid to keep funds from a Hamas-led
government, Israeli and Western diplomats said on Monday.
The World
Bank already manages a trust fund that provides budgetary support to the
Palestinian Authority.
Expanding the World Bank's role could enable
donors to sidestep the Palestinian government being formed by the Islamic
militant group while ensuring humanitarian assistance gets through to the
Palestinian people, sources familiar with the proposal said.
"That
is one of the options being looked at ... to allow the Palestinians to
receive the humanitarian aid they need and, at the same time, ensure (the
money) doesn't go to terror," said a senior Israeli official who spoke on
condition of anonymity because a decision has yet to be made.
A
Western diplomatic source said the proposal was being pushed mainly by
Israel and it was unclear whether it would be accepted by major donors
because of complications involved in expanding the World Bank's
mandate.
Israel froze tax revenue transfers to the cash-strapped
Palestinian Authority starting this month in a bid to isolate Hamas, which
won the Jan. 25 Palestinian election. The tax revenues are worth around
$50-55 million a month.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev
declined to comment on the specific options under discussions to funnel
aid to the Palestinian people once Hamas forms a government.
"While
it is important to cut off direct financial support to a Hamas-controlled
Palestinian Treasury, it is important to energize direct aid for the
Palestinian people throughnon-government agencies," Regev said.
It
is unclear whether Israel could transfer to the World Bank the tax
revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians. An Israeli official
said doing so would require a court order.
"The World Bank will not
touch money that legally belongs to the Palestinians unless they have a
request from the Palestinians," a Western diplomatic source
said.
Top UN and European Union officials have called on Israel to
resume the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority so it can
pay salaries to an estimated 140,000 workers and security
personnel.
As many as one in four Palestinians is dependent on
wages from the Authority, prompting warnings last week from international
envoy James Wolfensohn that violence could break out if salaries were not
paid.
The World Bank has managed a multidonor reform fund for the
Palestinian Authority since 2004.
A total of $310 million has
been committed to the Public Financial Management Reform Trust Fund by 12
donors, of which $250 million has been disbursed. The biggest contributors
are the European Commission, Japan, Norway and Britain.
A Western
diplomatic source said Israel's proposal would amount to a major expansion
of the World Bank's role.
"It would be like the World Bank
administering the entire Palestinian budget," the source said. "This would
require a much bigger international decision."
Palestinians depend
on foreign aid totalling more than $1 billion a year. It is unclear how
much of that money would be withheld by international donors once Hamas,
whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, forms a
government.
Since a Palestinian revolt erupted in 2000, Hamas has
masterminded at least 60 suicide bombings against Israelis. But it has
largely abided by a truce declared last year.