Lobbying 2015: Palestine seeks to limit fallout from UN push
The Palestinians are counting on the Obama administration to rein in congressional anger as they take their campaign for statehood to the United Nations.
After last year’s devastating war in Gaza and the collapse of peace talks, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is taking his grievances straight to the United Nations. He’s hoping to build support for a statehood bid while keeping the pressure on Israel.
The bold move has predictably infuriated Congress, which controls the purse strings for the State Department’s $440 million annual aid request that’s vital to keeping government services running in the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians in turn have hired well-connected powerhouses to keep the money flowing.
The PA hired Washington lobbying behemoth Squire Patton Boggs in November to “assist the PA in assessing US funding promises” and “help ensure that such US commitments of financial assistance are fulfilled.” The lobby shop is also tasked with ensuring “proper implementation” of the 1994 Paris Protocol that regulates the monthly transfer of customs payments from Israel to the PA; Israel suspended the transfers for three months late last year.
And just last month, the Palestine Monetary Authority — the PA’s central bank — hired the Anglo-American law firm DLA Piper for $50,000 per month. The legal giant is supposed to assist with “compliance with anti-money laundering and economic sanctions laws and regulations” and help “strengthen the relationship between the Palestine Monetary Authority and the US Government and US correspondent banks.”
