At the request of Norway, the European Union on Jan. 31 held an emergency session in Brussels of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which coordinates development assistance to the Palestinian people. The donors’ group had last met in September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, to discuss concerns about the possible collapse of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Then, as now, Israel was represented by Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi and Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the head of Coordination of Government Activity in the Territories.

The Brussels meeting is one of the most important in the history of the AHLC, formed in 1993 following the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords and the ensuing establishment of the PA. The committee is critical to the PA’s operations and for the rule of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting took place the day after US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address, in which he reiterated his warning that US foreign aid would only be used to serve American interests and “only go to America’s friends.” The message to Abbas was loud and clear.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called the emergency AHLC meeting in Brussels in the wake of Trump’s alarming threats to cut off US aid to the PA. As I wrote Jan 29 in Al-Monitor, a significant scaling back or cancellation of US aid to the Palestinians could have dire consequences for the PA's functioning, including its security forces, endangering security coordination with Israel that has helped thwart anti-Israeli terror attacks.