Diplomacy

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New Legislation Would Bar PA from Receiving U.S. Funds Pending ICC Bid Withdrawal

A bill introduced in Congress on Tuesday threatens to cut off U.S. financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) until Ramallah withdraws a bid announced in late December to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). The legislation, introduced by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), stipulates that no money be given to the PA “until the Palestinian Authority withdraws its request to join the International Criminal Court.”

The bill comes a week after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas engaged in several moves in the international body that would elevate Ramallah’s status – a Palestinian statehood bid last Monday failed to reach the necessary nine votes for passage, and two days later, Abbas announced that the PA would apply for membership in the International Criminal Court. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon announced on Tuesday evening that Ramallah is expected to officially join the ICC on April 1, having submitted the necessary documents late last week to move forward with the bid. Sen. Paul, speaking Monday on Fox News, said it “hardly seems to me a good idea to give American taxpayer money to a country or an entity that is now saying that an ally of ours—that their soldiers need to be investigated for war crimes.”

The State Department had on Monday told reporters that Congress would take the lead in any decision to cut some $400 million in annual aid to the PA, which is contingent on Ramallah meeting long-standing treaty requirements forbidding unilateral moves that upgrade the PA’s international status outside of negotiations with Israel. Following Abbas’s announcement last week, several Democratic and Republican legislators announced that the PA would face repercussions for the move, with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) releasing a statement that she was “deeply frustrated” by the gambit. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) released a similar statement, pledging that Congress would “do everything in its power to block funds to the PA.”

[Photo: F Delventhal / Flickr ]