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Attention United States Congress!

[Yoram Ettinger: Since 1994, the highest per-capita-foreign-aid in the world has been provided – mostly by the US taxpayer – to the Palestinian Authority. Since 1994, there has been an unprecedented intensification of Palestinian anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-US hate-education and incitement in PA-controlled  schools, mosques and media, an all-time high PA non-compliance with commitments made to the US and Israel and an unparalleled expansion of Palestinian terrorism infrastructure and activity.  Thus, foreign aid has not moderated the PA.  Foreign aid has rewarded PA hate-education, non-compliance and terrorism. The following study documents that foreign aid has also been abused by the PA, enticing corruption and inefficient economy].

Gil Kol (YnetNews reporter): 

Study shows over 60% of Palestinian Authority’s GNP comes from US, EU, UN, World Bank. “Donations go toward entrenchment of government institutions instead of development of infrastructure, industry, human capital,” say research authors, economic analyst Eyal Ofer and President of Financial Immunities consulting firm Adam Roiter.

According to the study, more than 60% of the Palestinian Authority’s Gross National Product comes from the United States, European Union, United Nations, World Bank and others countries,

 

According to the study’s findings, during 2009 and 2010 the PA’s reliance on donations increased – with a 20% growth in donations, totaling some $3.96BN per year.

 

In real values, the scope of donations more than doubled within a period of four years.

 

The research, similarly to OECD reports, points to the PA’s steadily increasing dependence on donation funds. In fact, the Palestinian people receive the largest amount of donations worldwide.

 

For every Palestinian citizen, the PA receives an average of $1,000 per annum, which amounts to an average of ILS 2,000 (about $560) per family, per month. The data reinforces the claim that there is no Palestinian economy, and that in reality is almost exclusively supported by the donation industry.

 

Yes, an economy can be built from donations – if these are allocated for development, production and infrastructure, but this is not the case.

 

“The donations toward the entrenchment of government institutions instead of the development of infrastructure, industry, human capital etc’,” explained Roiter. “What we have here is a schnorrer country, without which it does not exist,” he added.

 

Ofer and Roiter noted that since 2000 – when the rate of donations reflected 10.47% of total GNP – there has been a steady increase in the scope of foreign donations. The most significant boost began in 2007, immediately after Hamas gained control of the Gaza Strip, and following the PA’s claim that it needed more funds to establish its regime.

 

‘No industrial sector’

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s links with the International Monetary Fund, as well as his “Western” rhetoric vis-…-vis transparency, the building of government institutions and preventing market monopolies have helped him with the task of fundraising.

 

However, according to the study, the facts on the ground indicate that the governmental apparatus and international aid organizations impede the growth of the business sector, while donations are used to preserve the ruling party rather than build a separate economy that is not dependent on foreign donations.

 

Ofer and Roiter are not the only ones pointing to the worrying trend. A piercing article published in UK-based the Guardian newspaper last November claimed that [Palestinian] NGOs have become synonyms with corruption and incompetence, hinting at international donors who the paper claimed thwarted the Palestinian economic development by overinflating the aid industry without supplying long-term solutions.

 

The latest study reinforces this claim, pointing to the absence of an industrial sector in the Palestinian Authority. “Employers lack the ability or the will to go into industry or development, because they cannot compete with the salaries of governmental organs and that of the aid workers on the ground,” said Ofer, adding, “In reality, their economy is solely based on the trade of services.”

 

Even grants that are specifically designated for “projects” throughout the Palestinian Authority are only partially used for their original purpose, claimed Ofer.

 

According to Roiter, although it is in Israel’s interest to see the PA reinforced rather than the Hamas – the Authority’s conduct may be dangerous in the long run: “Without the donations, the Palestinian Authority’s economy will collapse, and this by turn will affect the security of Israel’s residents.

 

“The funds go into the pockets of bureaucratic echelons and to the monstrous administrative apparatus that mostly deals with allocation of funds and fundraising,” he added.

 

“Governmental services operate on the expense of the business sector, which is left at a standstill – instead of developing alongside it,” he noted.

 

The study also reveals that while the Palestinian prime minister brags in front of foreign institutions over the scope of tax collection in the PA, he forgets to mention that 77% of all taxes are collected by the Israeli Finance Ministry as part of a joint agreement between Israel and the PA. The former then transfers the latter more than NIS 5 billion (about $1.4 billion) per year, which amounts to approximately a third of the PA’s annual budget.

 

The authors conclude their study with a grim prospect – the Palestinian Authority’s financial and political interest is compatible with that of Israel – a complete standstill with a false display of “progress.”

 

“The PA may create a false display of assuming responsibility, but does nothing to prevent a possible scenario of economic collapse, because it is easier to live on someone else’s expense,” they conclude.

 

 

 




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Congress – the co-equal and systematic ally of Israel

Presidents propose and Congress disposes

On September 23, 2021, the US House of Representatives voted 420:9 to replenish the Israeli-developed defensive “Iron Dome” missiles, which are increasingly manufactured – and eventually exported – by the US defense company Raytheon, that benefits from the battle-tested “Israeli laboratory.”

The overwhelming vote reflects Congressional realization that the “Iron Dome”:

*Enhances Israel’s posture of deterrence, which is critical to the survival of all pro-US Arab regimes and minimization of regional instability;
*Reduces the need for full-scale Israeli wars on Palestinian and Islamic terrorism;
*Provides an alternative to Israeli military ground-operations against Palestinian terrorists, which would entail substantial Israeli and Palestinian fatalities;
*Represents joint US-Israel interests, militarily and technologically, in the face of mutual threats (e.g., Islamic terrorism) and mutual challenges (e.g., developing world-class, game-changing technologies).

*Constitutes another example of the systematic support by Congress of enhanced US-Israel cooperation.

The decisive role played by Congress in the replenishment of the “Iron Dome” underscores the cardinal rule of the US political system: The President proposes, but Congress disposes.

The involvement of Senators and House Representatives in foreign policy and national security-related issues has surged since the Vietnam War, Watergate and Iran Gate scandals, the dismantling of the USSR (which transformed the world from a bi-polar to a multi-polar) and rapidly-expanding globalization.

In fact, former Secretary of State, Jim Baker, complained about the growing congressional assertiveness in the area of foreign policy: “You can’t conduct foreign policy with 535 Secretaries of State….”  Former Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney, criticized Congress for micromanaging the defense budget: dictating how much to spend on particular weapons, imposing detailed requirements and programmatic restrictions, venturing into policy-setting and requesting that the Department of Defense submits mountains of reports.

Congressional muscles 

The US Congress is the most powerful legislature in the world, and it has demonstrated its co-equal, co-determining muscle in the areas of foreign and defense policies on many occasions, such as:

*Imposing sanctions against foreign countries in defiance of Presidents Clinton, Obama and Trump (e.g., Egypt – 2012, Iran – 1996-97 and 2013, Russia – 2017);
*Non-ratification of the 2015 JCPOA, which enabled withdrawal by the US;
*The 2009 non-closure of the Guantanamo Detention Camp was led by Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (NV-D), in defiance of President Obama.
*The 2009 non-confirmation of Charles Freeman to the Director of National Intelligence was led by Senator Chuck Schumer (NY-D);
*The 1999 non-ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in defiance of President Clinton and the international community;
*The unprecedented expansion of US-Israel strategic cooperation took place despite stiff opposition by President Bush and Secretary of State Baker;
*The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act overrode President Reagan’s veto;
*The 1984 Boland Amendment aborted President Reagan’s financial and military aid to anti-Communist elements in Nicaragua;
*The 1983 blocking of President Reagan’s attempted coup against the Surinam pro-Soviet regime;
*The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act mandated congressional authorization of surveillance of persons and organizations, which may threaten national security;
*The 1975/76 Tunney (CA-D) and Clark Amendments stopped financial and military covert support of the opposition to the pro-Soviet regime in Angola;
*The 1973 Church-Case Amendment ended funding of military involvement in Southeast Asia;
*The 1973 War Powers Act overrode President Nixon’s veto;
*The Jackson-Vanik Amendment preconditioned aid to Moscow upon free immigration.

Congress empowered by the Constitution

As documented in the aforementioned paragraphs, one is advised to note that while Congress is preoccupied with District and State issues, it has the power to both propose and dispose in the areas of foreign and defense policies.

The US Constitution aspires for a limited government and a non-monarchical president, and therefore does not limit Congress to overseeing the budget. It provides the Senate and the House of Representatives with the power to act on strategic issues and policy-setting.

The Constitution accords Congress ”the power of the purse,” oversight of government operations, ratification of treaties, confirmation of key appointments, declaration of war, funding of military operations and cooperation with foreign entities, creation and elimination of government agencies, imposing sanctions on foreign governments, etc.

In other words, the President is the “commander in-chief” within constraints, which are set by Congress.




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