US Threatens to Cut Off Aid to Palestinians After Move to Join ICC

[former9thward]

29. The U.S. gives $400 million a year in direct aid.

In addition the U.S. gives $200 million a year to a U.N. Palestinian Aid agency.

From FY2008 to the present, annual Economic Support Fund (ESF) assistance to the West Bank
and Gaza Strip has averaged around $400 million, with that amount divided between U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID)-administered project assistance (through grants to
contracting organizations) and direct budgetary assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Annual International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) nonlethal assistance for
PA security forces and the criminal justice sector in the West Bank has averaged around $100
million. In line with Obama Administration requests, funding levels declined slightly in FY2013,
with a new baseline of overall annual ESF assistance of $370 million, and a new baseline of
annual INCLE assistance of $70 million. Administration requests for ESF and INCLE have
remained constant for FY2014 and FY2015. Some FY2013 ESF funding has been provided via
the ESF-Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account, and the State Department expects to
draw from this account in FY2014 as well.

Additional U.S. humanitarian assistance for Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere continues
through contributions to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East (UNRWA). U.S. contributions to UNRWA, which have totaled more than $4.9 billion since
UNRWA’s inception in 1950, have averaged over $200 million annually.


http://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS22967.pdf