Members of Palestinian security forces disperse a Hamas demonstration in Hebron in the West Bank. December 14, 2018. . (photo credit: MUSSA QAWASMA / REUTERS)
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The US funding and training program for the PA’s security services is set to end at midnight on Thursday, as diplomats and politicians scrambled to find a way to mitigate the impact on West Bank stability.
The 14-year-old US Security Coordinator (USSC) mission, and the $61 million it provides annually, is perceived to be the cornerstone to an effective Palestinian Authority security service. Coordinated PA and IDF security activity, which has withstood diplomatic crisis and terrorism waves, is touted as a stabilizing factor in the often volatile West Bank.
It is feared that the loss of the program could harm those ties and the effectiveness of the Palestinian security forces in general.
A PA official said Thursday that security coordination between the Palestinians and Israel will not be immediately affected by the ending of the US aid, including its security services in the West Bank.
“I don’t believe this will impact the security coordination in the short term,” the official told The Jerusalem Post. “But who knows what will happen in the coming weeks and months.”
The Trump administration has withdrawn most of its financial assistance to the PA, but always intended to continue financing its security services.
The Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act, however, has made such an option impossible.
The legislation, which passed unanimously by the House and Senate last year, comes into force on Friday, leaving the PA open to lawsuits if it accepts US funds.
The PA has said it will forgo receiving US financial aid, including the $61m. Washington provides in security assistance to the Palestinians.
PLO secretary-general Saeb Erekat told journalists in Ramallah on Thursday that the halting of the US funds will not affect the work of the security forces this year.
PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah recently sent a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking him to halt US funds to the Palestinians because of the anti-terrorism law, Erekat explained.
“Regrettably, the US economic aid to Palestine now has become a dividing force due to the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) of 2018,” Hamdallah wrote in his letter. “As you may know, the ATCA references various forms of US assistance to the government of Palestine. Further, the ATCA purports to alter the rules of jurisdiction over the government of Palestine in the US legal proceedings if it continues to accept such aid after January 31, 2019.”
Erekat said the Palestinians do not want to receive any money if that would expose them to legal proceedings. He denied that the PA was seeking other ways to ensure the continuation of the US funding without being exposed to legal action.
“We’re not seeking anything,” he said. “The Americans have taken their decision, but we will continue to take part in combating terrorism in the region.” The US, he noted, halted financial aid in hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinians in the past year.
“The US administration has cut $844m. of aid to the Palestinians and their institutions,” he said. “This has resulted in ending road and school and water and sanitation projects, which have been left unfinished,” Erekat added. He said that as of Friday, all USAID offices and projects for the Palestinians will be shut and hundreds of employees and workers will lose their jobs.
“We can do without this aid,” Erekat said. “We haven’t opened a battle with the US, and we don’t want to launch a battle against any other party.” Accusing the US administration of trying to “blackmail” the Palestinians, Erekat said: “Jerusalem is not for sale.”
A State Department official said it will continue to work through the potential impact of the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act. “In consultation with partners, we have taken steps to wind down certain projects and programs in the West Bank and Gaza.”
The US Security Coordinator mission, whose main office is located in Jerusalem, is tasked with training Palestinian security forces, primarily in Jordan.
Former US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said it also acts as a liaison between the Israeli and Palestinian security forces. It played a “quasi-diplomatic role” because it could talk with both sides, he said.
The USSC is the only body that trains the Palestinians and when it shuts down, there is no structure for any other external force to train the Palestinians, he said.
“It doesn’t automatically mean that tomorrow, security coordination stops. What it does mean is that tomorrow begins a period where there is no training and there is no direct US assistance in navigating the security forces,” Shapiro said.
He said he feared it could have long-term impact on both the Palestinian security forces and its coordination with the IDF.
“A process of deterioration will begin, in which the security forces will be less effective and there is a risk that it will contribute to a process that will lead to the end of the Palestinian security coordination with Israel,” Shapiro, who is a visiting fellow at Tel Aviv University’s National Institute for Security Studies, said.
Lt.-Col. (res.) Alon Eviatar said that at first glance, he did not believe the loss of the funding and the USSC mission would be that significant.
Eviatar was a past adviser on Palestinian affairs for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
He said he believed that alternative funding could be found from donor countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The bulk of the US funding had gone to training, and the day-to-day activities were less likely to be affected, he said.
The Palestinian security services will still be able to carry out their essential duties, including arrests and maintaining order, Eviatar said. They will also be able to operate against Hamas in the West Bank.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday renewed his criticism of the US administration and said it has disqualified itself from acting as a mediator between the Palestinians and Israel.
Abbas’s criticism came during a press conference he held in Ramallah with the president of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.
Abbas, however, did not mention the ending of US financial aid to the Palestinians.
The US, Abbas said, is “encouraging Israel to act as a state that is above the law because of its blind bias” in favor of Israel. He said the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem, as well as other “punitive measures against us,” were unacceptable to the entire international community.
“The US alone is no longer qualified to assume the role of mediator,” Abbas said. “We call for holding an international conference for peace and the establishment of a multi-party mechanism to move forward with the path of peace.”
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