White House: Trump Will Cut Aid to Palestinians if They Spread Lies About the U.S.

TEL AVIV – President Donald Trump remains committed to brokering “the ultimate peace deal” between Israelis and Palestinians, but he won’t “tolerate falsehoods being spread about America” or fund those who spread them, a senior White House official said on Wednesday.

The unnamed official was responding to threats made by Trump on Tuesday to cut U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority since it is “no longer willing to talk peace.”

“The President is a master dealmaker and is as committed to trying to achieve the ultimate peace deal as ever, but he will not tolerate falsehoods being spread about America and our positions — and he certainly will not spend taxpayer dollars to subsidize those who spread them,” the official said.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas slammed Trump’s declaration last month recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying that the U.S. could no longer be considered an unbiased broker in solving the conflict. Palestinian officials shunned meetings with Trump’s Mideast peace negotiator Jason Greenblatt as well as Vice President Mike Pence.

On Tuesday, Breitbart Jerusalem Bureau Chief Aaron Klein applauded Trump’s threat to cut Palestinian aid, saying that the PA is an “anti-Western” entity that supports terrorism and incites violence against Israel.

“The Palestinian Authority pays terrorists. They pay prisoners who are in Israeli jails for committing murder. They pay their families. They openly incite violence, incite terrorism,” Klein said. “I am talking about the Palestinian Authority’s official media outlets; their official schools; their official camps. All dedicated in large part to the destruction of Israel.”

Klein also responded to threats from U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who warned on Tuesday that if the Palestinian Authority refuses to continue peace negotiations with Israel, the Trump administration could withhold funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which ministers to Palestinian refugees. U.S. financing to UNRWA should be “totally cut off,” contended Klein.

The White House official said that despite the Palestinian reaction, the U.S. was still on track with its goal to unveil a framework for peace.

“In the meantime, we remain hard at work on our comprehensive peace plan, which will benefit both Israelis and Palestinians and will be unveiled when it is ready and the time is right,” the official said.

In the past, Trump has expressed support for the Taylor Force Act, a bill that would see U.S. aid to the PA slashed if it continued its “pay-for-slay” policy of rewarding terrorists and their families with stipends for the murder of Israelis.