Authors deny their study shows UK grant to Palestinians ‘more likely’ to boost terror

A newspaper report claimed that an independent UK study found that a five-year British grant provided to the Palestinian Authority is “more likely” to boost terrorism, as the funding has been used to support civil servants convicted of carrying out terrorist acts. But the authors of the study said the report was inaccurate and that their conclusions were quite different.

According to the Telegraph on Sunday, the Overseas Development Institute said in its report that a £156.4 million ($221.7 million) UK aid project to the PA encouraged civil servants to take part in “active conflict,” as their families would still receive a salary even if they were jailed for criminal activity, including terrorism.

Furthermore, the study found, after completing their sentences, civil servants could return to positions ensured by the grant which were “kept open [for] when they return from detention.” The British grant paid the salaries of 5,000 PA civil servants over a period of 5 years. The Telegraph noted, therefore, that the British taxpayer was actively funding Palestinian terrorism.

But in a statement contradicting the Telegraph report, the Overseas Development Institute told The Times of Israel that the newspaper’s claims were “factually inaccurate.”

In fact, said ODI Executive Director Kevin Watkins, the Telegraph report used data “not drawn from the same time period as the five-year grant that was evaluated.” According to Watkins, the funding is actually “fundamental to preventing the collapse of the Palestinian economy and government, which in itself would lead to a dramatic increase in the conflict.”

In response to the newspaper report, British parliamentarians called for a review of UK spending in the Palestinian territories.

Labour MP Joan Ryan urged an independent inquiry to “ensure that taxpayers’ money assists the process of building peace and coexistence rather than ending up in the pockets of convicted terrorists.” She warned that the report “adds to the mounting concerns” about the aid provided to the PA by the British government’s Department for International Development.

Ryan noted that she did not trust a DFID internal review of the matter.

“This is an issue which has been put to the department repeatedly over recent years and which is has consistently and repeatedly failed to act on,” she said.

Conservative Party MP Sir Eric Pickles said that “Sadly, the Palestinian Authority role has deteriorated to, at best, the cheerleader to acts of violence to, at worst, the operator of a revolving door policy for terrorists.”

Pickles said “British taxpayers will be shocked to learn that we are helping to fund an equal opportunity employment policy for convicted terrorists.”

A DFID spokesman told the Telegraph, “The ODI report clearly states that UK support on the ground helped prevent economic collapse and an escalation in violence. In turn this reduces the risks of further displaced people leaving the region.”

In April the Telegraph reported that the DFID had halted funding to British anti-poverty group “War on Want” over its sponsorship of anti-Israel events. The paper claimed it had obtained undercover recordings of events where anti-Semitism, demands for the destruction of Israel, or naked support for terror were expressed by academics and others in meetings at some of Britain’s most prestigious universities. Some of the events were sponsored by War on Want.

The group has denied seeking government aid in the first place.

In May, a Norwegian paper reported that PA President Mahmoud Abbas had appeared to confirm that his government continues to pay the salaries of terrorists incarcerated by Israel, despite previously claiming that the practice had stopped.

The Dagen newspaper reported that Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, meeting with Abbas in Ramallah, demanded that the PA stop using its funds — which include donations by foreign countries — to support convicted terrorists and their families.

JTA contributed to this report.

This article was updated on June 14 to include the response from the study’s authors.