U.S. Security Assistance to the Palestinian Authority
Recent reports of the breakdown in United States-mediated negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians prompted the possibility of new legislation that would place additional conditions on or cut U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Below is a recap of U.S. assistance to the PA, including an overview of U.S. security assistance in recent years.
Since the establishment of the PA in 1994, the U.S. has committed over $5 billion in bilateral assistance to the Palestinian Authority. As envisioned by the Oslo Accords, the PA was intended to lead the transition to Palestinian self-governance in Gaza and the West Bank. U.S. assistance to the PA, therefore, was meant to reinforce this transition by helping to create the conditions necessary for living peacefully beside Israel, combat terrorism, and help address the humanitarian necessities of Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Much has changed, however, since the end of the 1990s and the stagnation of the Oslo Accords, the framework under which incremental transfers of authority over the Palestinian Territories from Israel to the PA would have continued. In particular, the 2007 split between Fatah, which continues to control the West Bank, and Hamas, which won control over the Gaza Strip, has had an especially large impact on U.S. aid to the PA. As such, in 2008, the U.S. began a relatively large increase in assistance in order to bolster Fatah’s position, while Congress continued to add conditions on such assistance to prevent it from possibly reaching Hamas’ hands. The accumulated conditions are reflected in the 2014 omnibus budget and the 2015 State and Foreign Operations Congressional Budget Justification.
There are three distinct phases in U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority. According to a Congressional Research Service report, “U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians,” the annual average of U.S. aid to the Palestinians from 1994-1999 was roughly $70 million. This figure rose to nearly $170 million for the years 2000-2007, though a few spikes skew this average in assistance, as evident in the graph below. Since 2008, U.S. assistance to the PA has grown substantially, with the U.S. adding security assistance to the PA’s aid package. Between 2008 and the present, aid to the PA ranged from a high in 2009 of $1.02 billion ($227 million in security and $794 million economic assistance) to a low of approximately $437 million in 2013 ($61 million security and $377 million economic assistance). It appears that the downward trend will continue in 2014, as the U.S. is estimated to allocate only $334 million in both military and economic assistance to the PA. In the recent Congressional Budget Justification, Congress has requested an increase in aid for Fiscal Year 2015 ($440 million).
The large aid increase in 2008 (from $70 million in 2007 to approximately $400 million in 2008) was due to the factional break between Hamas and Fatah and the intra-Palestinian struggle for control over the PA. U.S. assistance thus reflected a desire to strengthen the Fatah-controlled PA against Hamas, a congressionally designated terrorist organization. The bulk of new assistance has come in the form of economic assistance through the Economic Support Fund (ESF), which supports democratic programing, water quality and delivery systems, reductions of the PA’s annual budget deficits, etc. The 2015 CBJ requested $370 million in comprehensive economic assistance.
In 2008, the U.S. began providing security assistance to the PA. While this security assistance is distributed through a few assistance programs, an overwhelming majority of this aid comes through the International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) account (ranging from a high of $177 million in 2009 to a low of $59 million in 2013 and 2014). Funding to the PA through INCLE aims to “to train, reform, advise, house, and provide non-lethal equipment for PA civil security forces in the West Bank loyal to President Abbas. This aid is aimed at countering militants from organizations such as Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad, and establishing the rule of law for an expected Palestinian state.” In addition, some of these funds have been redirected to support the PA’s criminal justice sector. Overall, the assistance has supported the creation of nine full PA National Security Force special battalions, the training of two Presidential Guard battalions with the added help of foreign security personnel, as well as more effective security cooperation with Israel on counterterrorism matters.
U.S. assistance to the PA is heavily conditioned. The conditions place restrictions on PA affiliations, actions and finances in an effort to make sure the PA is not encouraging or supporting terrorism or incitement against Israel. Aid to the PA could be cut off should it share power with Hamas or redirect a part of its assistance to Hamas. Included in the conditions is a section against a unilateral approach to achieving Palestinian statehood by means of turning to international institutions for official recognition. For example, the 2014 omnibus budget threatens to cut off assistance if “the Palestinians obtain the same standing as member states or full membership as a state in the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof outside an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.” Indeed, the U.S. withheld disbursement of U.S. assistance to the PA after its successful acceptance as a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (though this aid was later released) and froze funding to UNESCO as a whole.
President Abbas’ decision to formally apply to another 15 UN treaties on April 2 prompted some U.S. members of Congress to consider a suspension of U.S. assistance to the PA. This position was reflected in a statement made by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney: “Unilateral moves by both sides will not accelerate the peace process, but will rather do the opposite.” So far, the only piece of legislation to be introduced has been House Resolution 542, which expresses “the sense of the House of Representatives that United States foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority should be suspended until Palestinian Authority Government Resolutions relating to providing a monthly salary to anyone imprisoned in Israel’s prisons as a result of participation in the struggle against the Israeli occupation are repealed.”
Last, with this week’s announcement of a deal between Fatah and Hamas that could bring both factions under a unified government, U.S. aid to the PA could come under increased scrutiny. The U.S. State Department expressed disappointment with the deal and stated that there could be implications on U.S. assistance. As noted above, Congressional conditions could restrict aid to the PA if it shares power with Hamas.