Trump squeezes Palestinian leadership as West Bank teeters
The Trump administration is escalating its pressure campaign against the Palestinian Authority as a wave of countries prepare to recognize a Palestinian state and Israel considers West Bank annexation.
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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is pressing ahead with policies that undermine the Palestinian Authority, even as its envoy to Israel warns that the PA-administered West Bank is on the brink of economic collapse.
In an interview with Axios, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he’s negotiating a deal for the release of tax revenues that Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is withholding from the PA. The funds that Israel routinely collects on behalf of the PA constitute most of the cash-strapped authority’s budget for paying public sector salaries and providing basic services in the West Bank.
"If the Palestinian economy were to completely collapse, it won't be a winning deal for anyone. It would lead to an escalation and further desperation,” Huckabee said Friday. “Desperate people do desperate things.”
