The Trump administration has sharpened its tone against the Palestinian Authority, but continues to fund its security forces in the West Bank, a US and a Palestinian official told The Times of Israel.

On February 12, the US State Department welcomed PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s decree canceling legislation that conditioned welfare payments to Palestinian security prisoners on the length of their sentences in Israeli jails. Washington’s statement said the move by Abbas to base welfare payments to all Palestinians strictly on financial need “appears to be a positive step and a big win for the administration.”

But in an updated statement sent to The Times of Israel last week, the State Department took a much harsher line.

“This abhorrent practice needs to end now. We want to see actions — not words,” the State Department added. “We will closely monitor that the law is fully implemented and will consult with the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government on developments.”

Asked to explain the shift, a State Department spokesperson declined.

While Washington appears to be losing patience with Ramallah, the US official and Palestinian official revealed that American funding to the PA’s security forces has continued under the new administration. The funds are coming from the Central Intelligence Agency, the two officials said, while declining to disclose the sum.

A separate bucket of funds from the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement Affairs (INCLE) have been held up, but that is part of the administration’s global halt on foreign aid, which only has two exceptions: Egypt and Israel.

The two officials speaking to The Times of Israel said Washington assured Ramallah that the INCLE funds — slated to amount to $47 million for the 2025 fiscal year — will be released in a month, when the administration finishes its 90-day review of all foreign aid........

© The Times of Israel