US President Joe Biden on Wednesday restored aid to the Palestinians to the tune of US$235 million, as he pledged to press for a two-state solution.
In his sharpest break on the conflict yet from his staunchly pro-Israel predecessor, Biden said that the US would resume funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that former US president Donald Trump had severed.
The US Department of State said that the US would contribute US$150 million to the UN agency and offer US$75 million in economic and development assistance to the West Bank and Gaza, as well as US$10 million for peacebuilding efforts.
Photo: AFP
In a call with Jordanian King Abdullah II, a long-standing US ally who recently faced down dissent within the royal family, Biden “affirmed that the United States supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” a White House statement said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US assistance to the Palestinians “serves important US interests and values” as “a means to advance toward a negotiated two-state solution.”
Israel, which had held off on criticism of Biden in his first months, denounced the assistance to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, which provides housing, schools and other care to more than 6 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
“We believe that this UN agency for so-called ‘refugees’ should not exist in its current format,” Israeli ambassador to the US Gilad Erdan said.
Israel says that the education provided by the UN-backed schools includes incitement against the Jewish state.
“I have expressed my disappointment and objection to the decision to renew UNRWA’s funding without first ensuring that certain reforms, including stopping the incitement and removing anti-Semitic content from its educational curriculum, are carried out,” Erdan said.
Asked about the Israeli criticism, US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said that the US took oversight of UNRWA “extraordinarily seriously” and that it would now have “a seat at the table.”
The Israeli anger comes as the US takes part in European-led exchanges in Vienna with Iran on returning to a denuclearization deal, which was bitterly opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The latest announcement is still well below the US$355 million contributed to UNRWA in 2016 by the US, then its largest contributor.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric welcomed the restored US assistance, which German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas said “sends the right signal” amid growing needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new funding is in addition to US$15 million in COVID-19 assistance to the Palestinians earlier announced by the US amid criticism that Israel, a leader in vaccinating its own people, has not taken similar initiatives in territories under its occupation.
Israel says vaccination is the Palestinian Authority’s responsibility.
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