U.S. stops $60 million in security aid to Palestine

Palestinians officially stopped receiving security aid from the U.S. on Friday after the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act went into effect.

The act, passed in 2018, would have put Palestine at economic risk of litigation if it were to accept the $60 million in security services aid that the U.S. previously provided annually, reports The Hill.

To avoid the economic ramifications of accepting aid, Palestinian officials previously said they would not accept aid once the ATCA went into effect. The Palestinian Authority has maintained that the money's absence will not affect security in the region, reports BBC.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Despite this assurance, an Israeli official said the U.S. is attempting to find a legal fix that will maintain security cooperation without violating the ATCA, per The Washington Post. Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro described the aid to the Post as "the glue that has helped ensure the security coordination continues and that has successfully thwarted terrorist attacks."

This is not the first setback to U.S. aid supply to Palestinians. The Trump administration previously cut aid to Palestine through the U.N. Relief and Works Agency after giving more than $360 million in 2017, per BBC.