From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 20, 2024
White House: US national security adviser met top PA officials in Ramallah yesterday to discuss reforms
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met yesterday with senior Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah to discuss efforts to reform the PA, the White House reveals.
During Sullivan’s meeting with PA Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh and PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, the top officials “discussed the crisis in Gaza and efforts to end the fighting through a hostage deal and to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance,” the US readout says.
“They also discussed the new PA government’s reform agenda and the importance of the international community providing financial support to enable this new government to succeed.”
Sullivan also “commended the efforts of the PA security forces to maintain stability in the West Bank,” the US readout adds.
According to a report in the Asharq news site, the PA leaders warned Sullivan that Ramallah is on verge of financial collapse due to far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s continued withholding of hundreds of millions of shekels in Palestinian tax revenues.
The US has urged Israel to release the funds but Smotrich has refused and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not intervened.
