Trump admin puts a freeze on Obama’s $221 million payment to Palestinians
US tycoon Donald Trump arrives to speak at the annual Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland,
outside Washington, on February 27, 2015. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty
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After the revelation on Monday that Obama had quietly and quickly approved a $221 million payment to the Palestinian Authority just hours before Trump’s inauguration ceremony, the State Department says it will investigate the matter and stop the payment if it’s inappropriate.
The payment had been frozen earlier by members of Congress after questionable actions by the Palestinian Authority, but Obama was bound by custom and not law to respect the freeze, which he violated on inauguration day. Representative Kay Granger (R-Texas) was one of those who stopped the payment originally, and she was very displeased with Obama’s act, which she denounced in a statement released Tuesday.
Dr. Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies explained to the Business Insider what the Palestinian Authority had done to make Congress stop the payment originally:
The surreptitious move by Obama was seen by many as another stab at Israel, his last, on the way out of the Oval Office. Trump has made an ostentatious show of support for Israel by saying he would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a policy that enrages the Muslim world because it further strengthens Israel’s claim over the holy city. http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/01/25/trump-admin-puts-a-freeze-on-obamas-221-million-payment-to-palestinians/ |