President Trump Threatens To Cut Aid To Palestinians
- 6 years ago
President Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority.
After recently targeting Pakistan on Twitter, President Trump took aim at the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday.
"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," Trump tweeted. "They don't even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel."
The president went on to say, "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?"
Early in December, Trump announced that the U.S. will acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a departure from decades of policy. That declaration has been met with significant international opposition.
According to Bloomberg, Palestinian Authority leaders have said, "the president's unilateral decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel disqualified America as a Middle East peace mediator."
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, echoed Trump's remarks in a press conference earlier on Tuesday.
"The Palestinians now have to show to the world that they want to come to the table. As of now, they're not coming to the table but they asked for aid," Haley said. "We're not giving the aid, we're going to make sure that they come to the table and we want to move forward with the peace process."
After recently targeting Pakistan on Twitter, President Trump took aim at the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday.
"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," Trump tweeted. "They don't even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel."
The president went on to say, "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?"
Early in December, Trump announced that the U.S. will acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a departure from decades of policy. That declaration has been met with significant international opposition.
According to Bloomberg, Palestinian Authority leaders have said, "the president's unilateral decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel disqualified America as a Middle East peace mediator."
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, echoed Trump's remarks in a press conference earlier on Tuesday.
"The Palestinians now have to show to the world that they want to come to the table. As of now, they're not coming to the table but they asked for aid," Haley said. "We're not giving the aid, we're going to make sure that they come to the table and we want to move forward with the peace process."