Palestinians facing a new reality, and they don’t like it a bit. They are discovering that their old game doesn’t work with President Trump and Nikki Haley.
At last, the United States is calling an end to the decades-long game that the Palestinians have played with the US. They have been able to simultaneously extract hundreds of millions of dollars from the United States every year, while funding terrorists that kill Americans and Israelis. Only a “foreign policy expert” could believe that this is a wise policy, which is why it takes a man accustomed to accomplishing big things in the real world (as opposed to endlessly “advancing the peace process” to no effect) to call a halt to the madness.
President Trump signaled that the game is over two days ago:
It's not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries, and others. As an example, we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue...— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
...peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018Responding to a reporter’s question on whether the US will continue to provide funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides aid to millions of Palestinian refugees, in light of a non-binding UN General Assembly resolution last month condemning the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Haley said Trump was prepared to cut aid to UNRWA if the Palestinians refuse to return to peace talks.
“I think the president has basically said that he doesn’t want to give any additional funding until the Palestinians are agreeing to come back to the negotiation table,” Haley said. “We’re trying to move for a peace process but if that doesn’t happen the president is not going to continue to fund that situation.”
“The Palestinians now have to show their will — they want to come to the table. As of now they are not coming to the table but they ask for aid. We’re not giving the aid,” added Haley. “We’re going to make sure they come to the table and we want to move forward with the peace process.”
The implicit threats that the Palestinians have used all these decades to keep the money flowing are:
1. The Arab and Muslim worlds will explode.
2. If the Palestinian Authority falls, it will be replaced by Hamas and/or Hezb’allah, and the cooperation with Israeli security forces by PA forces will end.
As any skilled and artistic dealmaker would, President Trump has already addressed both of these threats. With Saudi Arabia more concerned about Iran than the Palestinians, there will be desultory fury whipped up, at best. The protests against the Jerusalem embassy move have not exactly plunged the world into chaos, after all. And Hezb’allah depends on Iranian funding and arms, and that may not be a secure support base, as Iranians threaten to topple the mullahs and complain bitterly about their wealth flowing outside their country. As for Hamas, their base of power in Gaza in awfully vulnerable, and could be wiped out if push really does come to shove.
Most of the US aid to the Palestinians flows through UNWRA, the UN agency that operates as a de facto enabler of Palestinian radicalism. The US contribution overwhelms all other sources of funding.
The status quo has not been working well for a long time. The PA is in a corner now, with few good options.
Let the “experts” rant against this “escalation.” Politically, this is a loser, as Americans understand the idiocy of funding Palestinian terrorists. Diplomatically, it may downsize the careers of people who have “expertly” managed the “peace process” to no avail, but that is a downside only for the individuals involved.
President Trump drew infuriated reactions from Pakistan and from the Palestinians with his tweeted warnings that they might not deserve all the U.S. aid they're getting. Were these just off-the-wall late-night musings or a sign of big changes coming?
Pakistani [p]rime [m]inister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was yesterday due to chair a Cabinet meeting that was expected to focus on Mr[.] Trump's tweet. And the country's top civilian and military chiefs are expected to meet today to discuss deteriorating [U.S.] ties.
Pakistani [f]oreign [m]inister Khawaja Asif dismissed Mr[.] Trump's comments as a political stunt borne [sic] out of frustration over [U.S.] failures in Afghanistan, where Afghan Taleban [sic] militants have been gaining territory and carrying out major attacks.
"He has tweeted against us (Pakistan) and Iran for his domestic consumption," Mr[.] Asif told Geo TV on Monday. "He is again and again displacing his frustrations on Pakistan over failures in Afghanistan as they are trapped in (a) dead-end street in Afghanistan."
Mr Asif added that Pakistan did not need [U.S.] aid.
And according to RT News:
"Jerusalem is not for sale, neither for gold nor for silver," Nabil Abu Rdainah said on Wednesday. He added: "If the United States is keen about peace and about its interests, it must abide by that." Hanan Ashrawi, a senior executive of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said that Palestinians "will not be blackmailed."
Here are the tweets that drew such outrage
It's not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries, and others. As an example, we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don't even want to negotiate a long overdue...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
...and...
...peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
Powerline has a fine summary of the broad picture and context here.
So they're pretty fiery exchanges. But is it Trump just playing around with the buttons, as the NeverTrumps and the political left might say? Don't think so.
For starters, when you've got the Atlantic Monthly siding with Trump, you might just consider there's something big going on. That magazine ran a piece headlined "Trump's Belligerence toward Pakistan Isn't Unreasonable." Its writer noted that Trump's critique "was a long time coming." In other words, "about time."
Besides the Atlantic coming down on Trump's side, there's also the fact that U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, came down on the Trump side, too, saying Pakistan has been playing "a double-game." Haley is a conservative but tends to have an independent streak and says Trump doesn't give her orders. If she's saying this and coming down against these wretched aid recipients who manage only to undercut us, it sounds as if there's a consolidating position, both from the foreign policy establishment and even from the NeverTrumps.
Another thing worth noting, at least in the case of Pakistan, is that India is delighted, couldn't feel more vindicated. "Music to India's ears," tweeted one Indian cited in the report here.
That suggests further consolidation of the already warm U.S.-Indian relations and an increasingly heavy lever amassing to ensure that change comes to the Middle East. Already Saudi Arabia is changing for the better. Iran is in full blown revolt. The Islamic State is on the run, and terrorists are feeling the burn in Afghanistan.
What it all suggests is that Trump really wants to win the war and get the U.S. out of that hellish region. The way to do it is to assert U.S. interests, including moving the U.S. embassy to its rightful place in Jerusalem. Right now, U.S. aid has only been propping up and abetting the terrorist-supporting forces both in Pakistan and among the Palestinians. Cut that off, and watch the bad guys either run or reform. There's every reason to think Trump, through his tweets, is serious.
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