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Trump’s cuts in Palestinian aid will further peace, says Kushner

Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner defended the administration’s recent moves, which he claims could pave the way to a lasting solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

By: World Israel News Staff

Jared Kushner, who serves as a senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, spoke with the New York Times on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of the Oslo peace accords. While the agreements were intended to facilitate a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, critics of the agreement point to the Palestinians’ increased use of terror attacks and intensifying hostility in the ensuing decades as proof of the Oslo accords’ ultimate failure.

In his comments to the Times, Kushner addressed Trump’s recent cuts to Palestinian funding, which eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and threaten to shutter the Palestinians’ dedicated United Nations agency, UNRWA. Among the US administration’s cuts were $200 million in Palestinian aid, over $300 million to UNRWA, and another $25 million for health care in Arab sections of Jerusalem.

“There were too many false realities that were created — that people worship — that I think needed to be changed,” Kushner told the Times.

To that end, Kushner said the US is “dealing with things as we see them and not being scared out of doing the right thing. I think, as a result, you have a much higher chance of actually achieving a real peace.”

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Kushner’s comments arrive against the backdrop of an ongoing Palestinian boycott of Washington and Trump administration officials, in addition to the Palestinians’ refusal to halt payments to terrorists and the families of those killed committing acts of terrorism. Notwithstanding this posture, the Palestinians apparently expect US funding to continue flowing, despite their refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations with Israel to resolve the conflict.

“Nobody is entitled to America’s foreign aid,” Kushner commented

Last Monday, the Trump administration ordered the closure of the Palestinians’ mission in Washington, based on the fact that the Palestinians are not using the facility used for its stated purpose of pursuing a negotiated settlement with Israel.

Commenting on the move, the State Department said, “[The Palestinians have] not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel. To the contrary, [Palestinian] leadership has condemned a US peace plan they have not yet seen and refused to engage with the US government with respect to peace efforts and otherwise.”