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Nadler Cosponsors Bill to Ban Aid to Hamas-led Palestinian Authority

Congressman Jerrold Nadler today joined leading House members as an original cosponsor of legislation to respond to Hamas’s newfound power within the Palestinian government.  The Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 would freeze aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and nongovernmental agencies (NGOs) operating in the West Bank and Gaza so long as Hamas, or any other terrorist group, is part of the Palestinian government.


“The Palestinian people chose to use their election to turn their government over to terrorists – and while we can’t change that, we will not support it in any way,” Congressman Nadler said.  “This bill would rectify a key mistake of Oslo: not holding the PA accountable for meeting its stated commitments.”

The Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act puts in place a stringent benchmark that must be met by the PA before America resumes aid and lifts associated penalties laid out in the legislation.  Under the bill, the President must certify that the PA is (a) not controlled by and does not include terrorist groups, and that (b) the PA demonstrates substantial progress toward a number of goals:

  • Public acknowledgment of Israel’s right to exist as a free, Jewish state
  • Purging its security forces of terrorist elements
  • Dismantling terrorist infrastructure
  • Cooperating with Israel’s security forces
  • Recommitting itself to the Roadmap
  • Halting anti-Israel incitement
  • Ensuring democracy and the rule of law
  • Demonstrating transparency in its financial dealings.
So long as the PA does not meet that certification, the United States would:
  • Withhold all aid to the PA and all aid to NGOs, except to carry out basic humanitarian relief
  • Withhold dues to the United Nations proportional to the UN’s spending on the PA
  • Refuse to grant visas to PA officials, close all PA diplomatic offices in the US except for at the UN compound in New York City, and allow PA officials attached to the UN mission to travel only 25 miles from UN headquarters.
The bill also mandates that the US identify and make recommendations toward the elimination of anti-Israel programs within the United Nations.  It further stipulates that the US withhold UN dues, proportional to the UN’s spending on those programs.

“The measures outlined in this bill are stern, as they should be,” Congressman Nadler said.  “The United States must be unyielding in its response to the rise of Hamas.”

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