Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Monday that Australia had cut funding to the World Bank's Multi-Donor Trust Fund for the Palestinian Recovery and Development Program, according to press reports. Bishop expressed concerns about the donations going to Palestinian criminals.
"I am confident that previous Australian funding to the PA through the World Bank has been used as intended," Bishop said in a statement. "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 [fund] 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 continued.
The Palestinian Authority paid terrorists and their families more than $347 million last year, and increased that figure by nearly $56 million this year, according to reports.
| Update from The Times of Israel at 9:35 a.m. EDT: |
Bishop said the UN body “helps 1.9 million people. Approximately 75 percent of its funding will be spent in Gaza where the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate.”
Australia allocated AUD $43 million for humanitarian assistance in the region for the current fiscal year, which began on July 1.