Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is keeping her committee from considering approval of $192 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, two Capitol Hill sources said.
The money is separate from assistance to the Palestinian Authority, $200 million of which has already been distributed, and instead is earmarked for nongovernmental groups.
Such holds on NGO money typically are undertaken pending oversight to show that the NGOs are not working with terrorist groups. Ros-Lehtinen in recent weeks has expressed concern that a tentative agreement to unite the Palestinian Authority with Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip, is already in effect.
The Americans for Peace Now website is reporting that other House Republicans also are holding the money, and that Republicans in the House and Senate are holding $150 million in security assistance to the P.A.
Republicans and Democrats have warned that such money may be withheld if the Palestinians do not pull back from their attempt to gain statehood recognition through the United Nations and absent peace talks with Israel.
The Arab League on Oct. 2 called on the Arab states in the region to replace that missing aid with their own donations. — jta