Jerusalem ‘not for sale’, says Palestine after White House threats
JERUSALEM is “not for sale”, the Palestinian government has warned the US, after Donald Trump threatened to cut off $300 million (£222 million) in aid to the Palestinian Authority.
Relations between the White House and the Palestinians have soured since the US president’s decision in December to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, upending 70 years of US policy. Since the decision, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has refused to meet with American officials regarding the peace process, saying the US has relinquished its role as a mediator in peace talks.
Mr Trump dismissed Palestinian outrage at the move and threatened to cut off the $300million annual aid the US currently gives the Palestinian Authority in a bid to force it to return to the negotiating table.
Mr Trump tweeted: “With the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?”
“They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue ... peace treaty with Israel,” he wrote.
But in an angry rebuke to Mr Trump’s threat, Mr Abbas’s spokesman told reporters yesterday: “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Palestine and it is not for sale for gold or billions.”
“We are not against going back to negotiations, but [these should be] based on international laws and resolutions that have recognised an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
His comments came hours after Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian National Council, said the Palestinians would not be “blackmailed” by US threats.
Mr Trump’s latest comments appear to contradict his previous statement that the US recognising Jerusalem as the Israeli capital would not impact the final status of the city in peace negotiations.
In his tweet, he claimed instead that “we have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table”.
The US president has also threatened to cut off foreign aid money to other countries that do “nothing” for America.
It follows an earlier tweet lambasting Pakistan for failing to do enough to combat terror groups while taking US aid. “No more!” Trump had tweeted on Monday.