Algeria pledges $100 million to cash-strapped Palestinian Authority

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday visited Algeria and met with Algerian President Abd al-Majid Tebboune, who pledged millions of dollars for the cash-strapped PA.

Abbas has been on a diplomatic tour in recent days, visiting Russia, Italy and Qatar and meeting with heads of state. Abbas’s trip comes as observers fear the PA could face financial collapse due, in part, to dwindling external support.

In a joint press conference with Abbas, Tebboune announced that Algeria will donate $100 million to Ramallah’s coffers.

“The Palestinian-Algerian relationship expresses the Algerian people’s support for the just cause of Palestine,” Tebboune said.

Algeria is to host an Arab League summit in March 2022, the first since rival Morocco renewed ties with Israel amid a string of US-brokered normalization deals with the Jewish state.

Tebboune said Monday that Algeria plans “to put the Palestinian cause at the center of this important event.”

Algerian television also reported that Tebboune plans to host Palestinian factions for talks.

An Algerian protester holds a picture of the Dome of the Rock, located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, as he protests with thousands of people against Israel during the 2014 Gaza war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, after Friday prayers at the Martyr Square in Algiers, Algeria, July 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Sidali Djarboub)

The PA leader’s tour of North Africa, where he also plans to visit Tunisia, comes two weeks after Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed an unprecedented defense deal with Morocco.

That deal stoked already high tensions with Algeria, which sees Israeli defense cooperation with the kingdom as a danger to its national security.

A top Algerian official said Gantz’s visit “targeted” his country.

Algeria cut diplomatic ties with Morocco in August, citing “hostile actions” — a charge denied by Rabat — and Morocco’s recent rapprochement with Israel.

Morocco controls most of Western Sahara and considers the former Spanish colony part of its sovereign territory. Algeria backs Western Sahara’s Polisario Front independence movement.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.