Palestinian Authority Is Largest Recipient Of Foreign Aid In The World

Which of course suggests an easy way to deal with the current economic crisis that is plaguing the West...

But be that as it may, the numbers really are amazing, as Caroline Glick outlines the enormous amount of aid that one of the more corrupt regimes receives from the West.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the PA is the largest recipient of foreign assistance in the world. According to Bloomberg, it received $1.2 billion in 2009 and will receive $1.8 billion by the end of the year.

The US provided the PA with $500.9 million in 2009 and, before Clinton's announcement, was scheduled to provide it with $550 million in 2011. This assistance does not include US financial support for UNRWA, an agency devoted exclusively to providing welfare benefits to Palestinians while subordinating itself to a Palestinian political agenda. The US is the single largest donor to UNRWA. Last year the $268 million US taxpayers gave the UN agency constituted 27 percent of UNRWA's budget.

Read the whole thing.

In terms of budgetary assistance alone, Glick notes the US has provided the Palestinian Authority with $350 million over the past 2 years:

• In spite of the fact that it is not clear that the PA needs the money, considering that the real GDP in the West Bank grew by 8.5%, with unemployment going down.
  
  
• In spite of the fact that with Fayyad's boycott of Israel--the Palestinian Authorities largest trade partner--Fayyad's own economic leadership is questionable.
  
  
• In spite of the fact that some of that budgetary to the Palestinian Authority will inevitably end up in the pockets of Hamas--in contravention of US law: each month Fayyad transfers money to Hamas-controlled Gaza in order to pay the salaries of PA employees living there. According to both US and international law, states are prohibited from providing any assistance whatsoever to areas which are controlled by terrorists.

But somehow, wasting billions of dollars while helping support terrorist regimes just doesn't seem to make onto the radar.

If a second Palestinian state is ever created, and the West is required to pour even more money in--maybe then somebody will notice.

In the meantime, why has it not occurred to anyone in the Obama administration that controlling some of the purse strings should give the US some leverage to get Abbas to come to the peace talks without playing games--or to withhold funding to Gaza until Gilad Shalit is released?

Technorati Tag: Palestinian Authority.