Palestinian Authority's covert funding makes assessing US aid cuts tricky

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) security forces have been hit by the Trump administration’s foreign funding freeze, but the funds suspended are just a slice of the cash they receive from the US, making it difficult to determine the status of the PA’s coffers.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the US stopped all security assistance to the PA. The Trump administration instituted a 90-day pause on foreign assistance. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio exempted only two entities from the cut: Israel and Egypt.

The security assistance that has been suspended to the PA is from the State Department and Department of Defence funds appropriated through the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), a source briefed by PA officials told MEE.

That funding shows up in unlikely places. For example, Palestinian security forces have been blocked from travelling to Jordan for SWAT training and advanced police courses, a US official told MEE.

“Most of the PA’s aid doesn’t come from the State Department. It comes from the CIA. Last I heard, they haven’t changed their policy on the PA,” a member of Fatah told MEE.

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