As Israel begins its ground war against Hamas in Gaza, while facing an existential battle from Iranian-backed groups vowing to destroy the country, the Biden administration is rebuking Israel for giving money to the Palestinian Authority.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the Biden administration is calling for resources to support the Palestinian Authority’s administration of the West Bank, according to Axios.
“We have asked them to be released [the money],” said Blinken.
“The Palestinian Authority is committed to maintaining security and stability in the West Bank. It is vastly underutilized. This is another aspect of the problem,” he added.
A US official whose name was not released said the message was that Israel cannot afford to let the Palestinian Authority fall apart.
“We told them that such a move undermines the Palestinian Authority and stability in the West Bank and is contrary to Israeli interests. We can’t just let everything collapse,” a US official said.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that he was withdrawing the payments, which amount to about $150 million per month.
“I want to inform you that I have instructed the Ministry of Finance to stop the transfer of payments this month,” he wrote, according to the Times of Israel.
He said he was taking action because of “the support of senior PA officials for the horrific massacres of the Nazi terrorist organization Hamas.”
“The PA has once again proven that it is a terror-supporting organization that we have been raising our voices about for years,” Smotrich wrote.
“Therefore, apart from the connection of these funds to the Gaza Strip and its inhabitants, these funds are used for activities against the State of Israel and its citizens. It is unthinkable that in this reality we will continue to transfer these funds as if nothing had happened,” he said.
Smotrich published a list of Palestinian Authority comments supporting Hamas, including a statement on the authority’s official Palestinian TV on October 7, the day of the Hamas attack, which said: “Today Gaza has delivered a blow that will occupation will not forget… today we woke up united.”
Biden’s action on behalf of the Palestinian Authority comes as a new poll shows only 17 percent of Arab American voters say they will support Biden next year, according to the Arab American Institute. That’s down from 59 percent support in 2020.
“This is the most dramatic shift in the shortest amount of time that I have ever seen,” said James Zogby, the founder and president of the Arab American Institute, according to Time.
The poll of 500 Arab-Americans was conducted between October 23 and 27 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, according to the Institute.
The poll found that 66 percent of respondents have a negative view of Biden’s response to the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas.
The poll also found that 68 percent of respondents believe the US should not send weapons to Israel, while the percentage believes the US should use its power to enforce a ceasefire in Gaza.
This article originally appeared in The Western Journal.