Rand Paul Introduces Bill to Cut Aid to Palestinians to Halt Their Effort to Join the International Criminal Court
January 7, 2015
AP - Republican Sen. Rand Paul
introduced a bill on Wednesday that would immediately halt U.S. aid to
the Palestinians until they halt their effort to join the International
Criminal Court to pursue war-crimes charges against Israel.
Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas' recent turn to the international court at The
Hague marked a major policy shift and transformed his relations with
Israel from strained to openly hostile. Abbas has been under heavy
domestic pressure to take stronger action against Israel after a 50-day
war between the Jewish state and militants in Gaza over the summer,
tensions over holy sites in Jerusalem and the failure of the last round
of U.S.-led peace talks.
While Palestinian membership in the court
doesn't automatically incur U.S. punishment, existing law says any
Palestinian case against Israel at the court would trigger an immediate
cutoff of U.S. financial support. The Kentucky senator's bill would ban
assistance until the Palestinians stop their move to become a member of
the court.
U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said late Tuesday that the state of
Palestine will join the International Criminal Court on April 1. On
Monday, the Obama administration said it was reviewing its annual $440
million aid package to the Palestinians because of the decision to join
the ICC.
"We are currently
sending roughly $400 million of U.S. taxpayer dollars to the Palestinian
Authority," Paul said. "Certainly, groups that threaten Israel cannot
be allies of the U.S. I will continue to do everything in my power to
make sure this president and this Congress stop treating Israel's
enemies as American allies."
Paul,
a likely Republican presidential contender, generally favors a smaller
American footprint in the world and in 2011 offered a budget plan that
called for ending foreign aid to all nations, including Israel.
On
a visit to Israel in 2013, Paul gave a speech calling for a gradual
reduction of foreign aid — despite Israel's status as one of the top
recipients of American assistance. The country gets about $3 billion a
year in military aid from the U.S. He says even Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he welcomes a day when Israel is
independent of American aid.
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