Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year asked the US to transfer funds to Palestinian security forces in the West Bank to support their work against terrorism there, but President Donald Trump responded that he could pay them himself if he wanted to, Axios reports.
According to the report by Barak Ravid, who is also a Channel 13 reporter in Israel, the Israeli request came after the State Department discovered $12 million in funds earmarked for the Palestinians that had not been transferred, due to US aid cuts, but had remained in limbo.
Israel, which is keen to preserve the Palestinian Authority, which cooperates with Israeli security forces in the West Bank, asked that the money be handed over to the security apparatuses.
US President Donald Trump, left, welcomes visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in Washington, March 25, 2019. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
But Trump refused, noting his policy of defunding the PA over its decision to cut ties with his administration. When Jerusalem pressed him, Ravid reports, Trump said: “If it is that important to Netanyahu he should pay the Palestinians $12 million.”
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