Israel accepts resumption of aid to Palestinians

[Violet_Crumble]

Israel today accepted a decision by major Middle East peace brokers to resume aid payments to the Palestinian Authority, a move that could ease the intense economic pressure on the Hamas-led government.

The Authority relies hugely on foreign aid to pay public sector salaries and run health and welfare services, and the mediating powers decided reluctantly on Tuesday that there was no other way to stave off a possible collapse into anarchy.

It was not clear whether they would find a way to channel funds through the overall Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, without having them administered by Hamas, an Islamic militant group officially sworn to Israel's destruction.

Israel okay with aid decision
But Israel, which had pushed hard and successfully for financial assistance to be severed after the Hamas-led administration took power in March, took the view that such a move would be possible.

http://www.sabcnews.com/world/the_middle_east/0,2172,127165,00.html

While Israel did want the funding to be stopped, it's the US that I feel should shoulder all responsibility for actually going out of its way to physically stop the funding. Wanting something and actually doing it are two different things, and it was the US who was doing it this time.

[bemildred]

1. Wait and see.

This will have the effect of strengthening Abbas' position, one would think, at the expense of further damage to his credibility.

One has to remember that without the "aid" there is no political leverage either.

One may speculate that the "aid" cutoff has not had the desired effect.

So one has a situation where "aid" is being restored, but in a way that attempts to shore up Abbas and restore the financial leverage of the Quartet.

I can't see anything dramatic in the news to explain this change, perhaps there is a prospect of other money coming into the situation, but I would infer that the cutoff has not worked out, as I would not expect it to be rescinded if it was "working".

Of course it could be some form of BS, it does seem to contemplate the PA being run by Hamas while the Palestinians are not starving, which is not a concession I would expect the US or EU to accept so easily. And as we all know when it comes to I/P issues, talk is cheap, free even, worth nothing at all.