US President Donald Trump has indirectly hinted at stopping financial assistance to Palestine for their unwillingness to negotiate peace with Israel.  This US President questioned the financial assistance program to Palestine via his favorite communication medium Twitter. 

Trump Questions Palestine, After Pakistan

“We are paying billions of dollars to various countries, not only to Pakistan, but also to other countries.  For instance, we give the Palestinians hundreds of millions of dollars every year, but it is not valued and they even do not show us respect.  They are not even interested in discussing and negotiating peace with Israel”, – Trump said

The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, earlier warned that the US would stop funding the UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, unless the Palestinian Leadership shows commitment and comes back to the negotiating table. 

“We have taken Jerusalem, the hardest part of the negotiation, off the topic for discussion, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more.  However, with the Palestinians no longer interested to discuss peace, then we have no reason to make any future payments to them”

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Earlier, Trump, unhappy with the way Islamabad supports extremist groups and harbors terrorists in Pakistan, suggested that the US’s financial assistance to Pakistan has gone down the drain and accused them of playing double game. 

One prominent Palestinian recipient of American financial assistance is the Palestinian security forces, which collaborate with their Israeli counterparts.  The US financial assistance for the Palestinians is about $260m, with an further $50m to boost the Palestinian security services. 

“Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Palestine and it is not for sale” a spokesman for the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas replied. 

On 6th December 2017, US President Trump proclaimed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered the shifting of US consulate from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  The status of Jerusalem – has been the biggest issue between Palestine and Israel.  Israel conquered the eastern part of the city in the 1967 war and assert that Jerusalem is the “one and inseparable” capital of Israel.  In turn, the Palestinians aspire to make the eastern part of Jerusalem as the capital of their state. 

See More: Israel Palestine Conflict Augments after US’s Jerusalem Move