An American State Department spokeswoman said in an interview on Friday that the United States will halt $25 million in aid to eastern Jerusalem hospitals, leading to warnings of the collapse of medical centers that provide crucial care to Palestinians.
The fresh cuts mark the third week in a row Washington has slashed financial support for Palestinians and came a day after US President Donald Trump said aid will be withheld until a peace deal is reached between the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and Israel.
State Department spokeswoman Alessia Dinkel told National Public Radio that the $25 million for the East Jerusalem Hospital Network would instead go toward other “priorities.”
The network, which is made up of six hospitals in Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem, provides healthcare such as cancer treatment and surgeries unavailable in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to the World Health Organization.
In a phone call Thursday with Jewish leaders ahead of Rosh HaShana, Trump said he would only resume aid to the PA if they agree to a deal with Israel.
“I stopped massive amounts of money that we were paying to the Palestinians and the Palestinian leaders. We were — the United States was paying them tremendous amounts of money,” Trump said during the call.
“And I’d say, you’ll get money, but we’re not paying you until we make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, we’re not paying. And that’s going to have a little impact.”
While this is obviously another transparent attempt by Trump to beat the Palestinian political leadership into submission and force them to accept his two-state initiatives, the damage it could potentially do to Palestinian society would be unprecedented.
But Trump’s behavior could also be an opportunity for Israel and the Palestinian people. If the PA is suddenly unable to maintain its hospitals, Israel should step in and in one move sideline the PA and thwart Trump’s plans for partitioning the country into two states.
If Israeli leaders are serious about full sovereignty over a united Jerusalem, there is no better way to advance this goal than to take responsibility for the people on the ground.
Funding Jerusalem hospitals serving Palestinian communities could not only avert a severe humanitarian crisis but also be a game changer in solidifying Israeli sovereignty, marginalizing the increasingly irrelevant PA and engaging the Palestinian people directly without any American involvement.
Whatever doubts I had about my support for President Trump have been completely dispelled by your article. Thank you!