Review of 221 Million US Dollars Released to Aid Palestine

Despite republican objections, John Kerry released $221 million to Palestinians just hours before Trump’s inauguration last week. The state department announced on Tuesday that it will review Kerry’s decision.

The money, which comes from the US agency of International Development, is will be used to fund humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza. The idea is to support political security reforms and provide a stable government for Palestine’s future.

The funding was originally approved in 2015, but GOP lawmakers – including the Chairman of House foreign affairs committee, Ed Royce, and a seat at the house appropriations committee, Kay Granger – decided to hold the money when the Palestinian government began to show interest in becoming a member of international organizations.

The US executive branch respects congressional holds but is not legally bound to the hold once funds are allocated. Thus, after a long time of pressing for release, the Obama administration decided to avoid the fight for congressional approval and released the $221 million to Palestinian authorities.

Granger claimed to be “deeply disappointed” that the Obama administration released the money to Palestinian territories without congressional oversight. She claims that their decision was “inappropriate” and that she “worked to make sure no American taxpayer dollars would fund the Palestinian authority unless strict conditions were met.”

While Obama deems Palestine more important, Donald Trump wants to place more focus on Israel. He plans to move the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, despite the fact that most of the world does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Although the US embassy is still in Tel Aviv, Trump’s new ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, already claimed that he is looking forward to working at the US embassy in “Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.” Undeterred by the majority of the world’s stance on Israel, Friedman supports all of Trumps Israeli settlements and other changes to US policy in the region.

Featured Image via Wikimedia