Israel frets over Congress push to slash Palestinian aid over terror payments
US lawmakers' efforts to further condition assistance to the Palestinian Authority is complicated by Israel's reluctance to undermine a key security partner.
WASHINGTON — A Republican effort to prohibit US aid to the Palestinians until they stop payments to the families of those imprisoned or killed for attacking Israelis is running into opposition from a surprising source: Israel.
Publicly, the Benjamin Netanyahu government supports any effort to stop what it dubs the Palestinian Authority's (PA's) practice of "pay to slay." Privately, however, a number of Israeli officials and pro-Israel advocates fret that a blanket ban on US assistance would undermine Israel's flawed but crucial security partnership with the PA.
