Australia will discontinue direct aid to the Palestinian Authority because it suspects the money is freeing up funds used to support political violence.

By: World Israel News and AP

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Monday that Australia will stop giving about $7 million a year to the World Bank’s trust fund for Palestinian recovery and development, according to Australian media sources.

Australia said it has ended direct aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) because Australian donations could increase the self-governing body’s capacity to pay Palestinians convicted of politically motivated violence.

The PA spends an estimated $300 million annually to pay stipends to Palestinians who committed acts of terror against Israelis and others as well as to families of these terrorists.

Bishop said Australia cut funding to the World Bank’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund for the Palestinian Recovery and Development Program after writing to the PA in late May seeking assurance that Australian funding was not going to Palestinian criminals.

“I wrote to the Palestinian Authority on May 29 to seek clear assurance that Australian funding is not being used to assist Palestinians convicted of politically motivated violence,” Bishop said in a statement.

“I am confident that previous Australian funding to the PA through the World Bank has been used as intended.

“However, I am concerned that in providing funds for this aspect of the PA’s operations, there is an opportunity for it to use its own budget to activities that Australia would never support.

“Any assistance provided by the Palestine Liberation Organization to those convicted of politically motivated violence is an affront to Australian values and undermines the prospect of meaningful peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” she added.

Bishop said Australia will now send aid to the United Nations’ Humanitarian Fund for the Palestinian Territories, which provides vulnerable Palestinians with access to health care, food, water, improved sanitation and shelter.

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Netanyahu will be traveling to Australia primarily to expand Israel’s economic ties. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at his cabinet meeting on Sunday morning that Israel is presented with “a new day” not only regarding bilateral ties with the United States, but also with other countries.

“After the cabinet meeting I am leaving on an important visit to Singapore and Australia,” said Netanyahu. “There is also a new day here and there is no time for jet lag.”

“We will strengthen security, economic and other ties with these countries,” Netanyahu added, noting that his trips to Singapore and Australia mark the “first visit by a (Israeli) prime minister to these important countries.”

The focus of Netanyahu’s trip, at least to Australia, will be to expand economic ties. “I will, together with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, hold a meeting with businesspeople from both countries in order to increase trade between Israel and Australia,” Netanyahu stated.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop recently emphasized her country’s opposition to one-sided UN resolutions against Israel as well as to the recent conclusions of an international summit in Paris that called for Israeli concessions to make way for the creation of a Palestinian state.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

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Australia does not support “one-sided resolutions” against Israel, and the two countries enjoy friendly relations.

Australia is not a member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), but if it were, it would not have supported the anti-Israel resolution passed over a week ago, condemning Jewish settlements in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as obstacles to peace, the prime minister and foreign minister indicated.

The UNSC vote passed 14-0. In a stunning shift in policy, the US abstained, rather than using its veto to block the resolution.

In a statement released Thursday, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said her country does not support “one-sided resolutions targeting Israel.”

Her government, she said, remains “firmly committed to a two-state solution, where Israel and a Palestinian state exist side by side in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders.”

At a Sydney synagogue, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also slammed the UNSC resolution, calling it “one-sided” and “deeply unsettling,” the Australian Jewish News reported.

According to the report, Turnbull made the remarks at Central Synagogue on Friday, where he took part in a menorah-lighting ceremony for Chanukah.

“Australia stands with Israel. We support Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East,” he stated. “We support a peaceful resolution of the disputes between Israel and the Palestinians.”

A two-state solution “can only be negotiated between the parties,” he said. “It is not assisted by one-sided resolutions made at the councils of the United Nations or anywhere else, and that is why Australia has not, and does not, support one-sided resolutions.”

Bishop visited Jerusalem in September, where she and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly had friendly meetings. The Israeli leader accepted an invitation to visit Australia in 2017.

“The Australian public would warmly embrace you, welcome you, and we would look forward to the first visit of an Israeli prime minister ever to Australia,” she told Netanyahu.

By: World Israel News Staff

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