Report: US seeking to bypass own rules blocking PA funding amid critical shortfall

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US is looking for ways to bypass legislation hamstringing its ability to send funds to the Palestinian Authority, fearing it is running out money and could collapse.

According to US officials cited in the report, Palestinians believe that the PA could run out of money within the next 10 days. If that happens, it will become vulnerable to extremists and lose the ability to govern the West Bank, to say nothing of also governing postwar Gaza or implementing reforms the US says are necessary for it to take on the expanded role, US officials say according to the report.

The Journal does not say how the Biden administration might get around the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits directly funding the PA due to stipends Ramallah pays terror convicts and their families.

The PA has refused to accept any Israeli tax transfers due to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s insistence on withholding funds earmarked for Gaza. A deal to transfer the money via Norway remains stuck.