Testifying yesterday before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated an increased effort to conduct oversight on funds delivered to Palestinians. Throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century, funds provided to the Palestinians often went unchecked, leading to corruption, mismanagement, and embezzlement of economic support. Clinton stated:
“We also are focused on the Middle East, as Chairwoman Lowey mentioned. Both she and Ranking Member Granger emphasized the importance of this region to our country. If we are genuinely interested in achieving a comprehensive and secure peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, we have to remain steadfast in our commitment to Israel’s security.
At the same time, we believe, we should continue to help the parties find a path to a two-state solution and support efforts initiated by the Palestinian Authority, under the leadership of Prime Minister Fayyad, to end corruption, promote security, and build infrastructure to demonstrate tangible benefits of peace to the people of the West Bank. And we think as part of that strategy, we have to address the humanitarian needs in Gaza by working directly with carefully vetted partners.
We have made it clear that we will only work only with a Palestinian Authority government that unambiguously and explicitly accepts the Quartet’s principles: a commitment to non-violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the Roadmap. In the event of any Hamas participation of any sort in this coalition, this would apply if the government, representing all of its agencies and instrumentalities, accepts these principles.
At Sharm el-Sheikh last month, I announced a U.S. government pledge of $900 million that includes humanitarian, economic, and security assistance for the Palestinian people, both Gaza and West Bank. And Madame Chairwoman, our supplemental request of $840 million is included in that pledge; it is not in addition to it. And it will be implemented under the most stringent requirements we’ve ever put on aid going into that area. “
Yesterday also marked the release of a Government Accountability Office report on foreign assistance in general, advocating increased intra-governmental cooperation and improved regional assistance plans.
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