views commentary W e didn’t need the publica- experts seeking to restrain Trump tion of a new book filled can’t seem to grasp this fact. with behind-the-scenes Aid to the P.A. is seen as necessary gossip to know that Donald Trump to prop up the only available inter- is an unconventional and, at times, locutor for peace with Israel. We’re inappropriate president. His also told that funding the P.A. is use of Twitter provides many a necessary part of its security examples of this fact. cooperation with Israel. But amid another flurry There are elements of truth to of questionable tweets on these assertions. If the P.A. were Jan. 4, Trump also talked to collapse, that would likely about threatening aid cuts lead to Israel having to reassert to the Palestinian Authority direct control of the West Bank (P.A.). Most of the main- rather than the current situa- Jonathan S. stream media treated that tion in which the overwhelm- Tobin idea as being as loopy as the ing majority of Palestinians latest exchange of insults are governed by the corrupt with North Korea’s dictator. Fatah party led by P.A. leader But while it’s easy to mock Mahmoud Abbas. But the P.A.’s Trump’s social media habits, this one need for cash to prop up its kleptoc- made sense and showed that, not for racy is exactly why the U.S. should be the first time, the president’s instinc- using its financial leverage to make it tual distrust of experts and the foreign clear to Abbas that a quarter-century policy establishment may have served of his organization holding the U.S. him well. hostage in this manner can’t continue. The minuscule amount of the Abbas’s threats of dissolving the P.A. national budget that goes to foreign are bluffs that should have been called nations generally serves American long ago. interests. In the case of Israel, which The same is true of security cooper- is the largest recipient, almost all of ation. Abbas relies on Israel to ensure the money it gets is spent in the U.S. his survival against the plots of his It’s also part of a strategic alliance in Islamist rivals as much, if not more, which America receives a great deal than the Israelis rely on the P.A. to back in terms of intelligence and tech- help keep terror under control in the nology. West Bank. But not all foreign aid serves U.S. The P.A. also uses the hundreds interests. The money sent to the of millions of dollars it gets from Palestinians illustrates this painfully the U.S. to provide salaries and pen- obvious conclusion. Yet despite the sions to terrorists and their families. abundant proof that keeping it flow- Congressional efforts to hinge U.S. aid ing is counterproductive, the so-called to ending the P.A.’s subsidies via the Contributing Writers: Ruthan Brodsky, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Adam Finkel, Stacy Gittleman, Stacy Goldberg, Judy Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Allison Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz, Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer kbrowett@renmedia.us | Editorial Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen kcohen@renmedia.us Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin lkonstantin@renmedia.us Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@renmedia.us Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin dannyraskin2132@gmail.com Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar rsklar@renmedia.us | Advertising Sales Sales Director: Keith Farber kfarber@renmedia.us Account Executives : Wendy Flusty, Annette Kizy SHEALAH CRAIGHEAD/WHITE HOUSE Why Trump’s Palestinian Aid Cut Threat Makes Sense President Donald Trump (left) and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (center) in Bethlehem on May 23, 2017. Taylor Force Act deserve the presi- dent’s support. The same is true about the mas- sive American contributions to UNRWA, the United Nations refu- gee agency that is solely devoted to the Palestinians. While UNRWA is credited with feeding and educat- ing Palestinians, its main role is in maintaining the Arab refugees as a stateless people to perpetuate an ongoing threat to Israel’s existence. An equal number of Jews were forced to flee their homes in Arab and Muslim countries after 1948, but they were absorbed in Israel and the West. Yet UNRWA has been part of the effort to | Production By FARAGO & ASSOCIATES Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kelly Kosek, Amy Pollard, Michelle Sheridan, Susan Walker | Detroit Jewish News Chairman: Michael H. Steinhardt President/Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz ahorwitz@renmedia.us Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett kbrowett@renmedia.us Controller: Craig R. Phipps | Social Media Producer Andrea Gusho socialmedia@thejewishnews.com Sales Manager Assistants : Karen Marzolf | Business Offices Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner | Fulfillment Joelle Harder jharder@renmedia.us prevent Palestinian Arabs from being absorbed elsewhere, thereby allow- ing them to cling to their dream of destroying the Jewish state. UNRWA’s schools have courses and books that promote hatred of Israel and Jews. Just as outrageous is the fact that UNRWA employees are often involved with Palestinian ter- ror organizations, and its schools and other facilities have been used to store Hamas weapons where they would presumably be safe from Israeli retali- ation. American governments have toler- ated this situation because they felt there was no alternative. But whether or not it is because he isn’t so versed in policy, and therefore is not bur- dened with the conventional wisdom that has made destructive programs seem reasonable, Trump appears to be unwilling to keep throwing good money after bad. You don’t have to be supporter of Trump or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to under- stand that he is right to demand that if the Palestinians want U.S. money they must, at the very least, come back to the negotiating table and cease funding and fomenting terror. It isn’t so much a case of “America First” to demand that recipients of U.S. largesse cooperate with U.S. policy, as it is one of common sense. Whatever his other faults, Trump’s insistence on this is neither foolish nor proof of his being unfit for office. • Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS. 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