President Bush waived restrictions on direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
“I hereby certify that it is important to the national security interests of the United States to waive” restrictions on direct funding for the Palestinian Authority, Bush wrote in a message Monday to the State Department.
The waiver allows Bush to transfer as much as $75 million to the Palestinian Authority. Such direct funding is otherwise subject to conditions, including proof that the Palestinian Authority has disarmed terrorists and ended incitement.
Bush is making an end-of-presidency push for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Most funding for the Palestinians in recent years has been directed through nongovernmental organizations, partly to avoid the taint of corruption and terrorism that had attached itself to the Palestinian Authority.
The Bush administration has praised the new P.A. leadership for reforms and says it needs the money in part to face down challenges from Islamist extremists.
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