Visiting Ramallah, EU president announces that some aid to PA will resume

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tells Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh in Ramallah that some EU aid to the PA will resume after months of delays, as EU officials debated whether to condition the funding on the removal of anti-Israel incitement from Palestinian textbooks.

“As Team Europe, we are the largest donor in Palestine, with around 600 million euros per year. And I am glad that the EU funds for 2021 can now be disbursed rapidly,” says Von der Leyen.

Von der Leyen’s remarks confirm the results of a European Commission vote to greenlight the funds, as reported by The Times of Israel last night.

The EU’s 2021 funding plans involves some $235 million in direct support for the PA budget. The aid supports the wages of the PA’s many civil servants: teachers, doctors, nurses, and firefighters. It also helps fund Palestinians seeking treatment in Israeli hospitals.

The precise details of the EU decision to renew the funding have yet to be made public. Palestinian officials say that the aid will resume unconditionally, but the EU has yet to publicly confirm whether that is the case.