1 \ BREAKING: After months of review the Trump administration announced tonight it will stop all funding to the UN relief and works agency (UNRWA) which in recent years reached 350 million dollars annually
2 \ Unlike several recent press reports the statement didn't break any new ground on the U.S. position regarding the issue of Palestinian refugees and didn't "take the issue off the table". The U.S. will now try to transfer aid to Palestinian refugees through other channels
3 \ The move to stop all U.S. funding to UNRWA was led by President Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner and U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley
4 \ Many in the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence community had reservations about a total funding cut fearing it will further destabilize Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank
5 \ The U.S. was the main country funding UNRWA for years. The cutting of U.S. aid to UNRWA will make the continuation of the agency's operations in the middle east almost impossible due to extreme budget downfall
6 \ The decision might also lead to serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation of Palestinian refugees due to the fact that UNRWA provides food, medical services and education to millions of Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon
7 \ The Trump administration statement said the decision to cut funding to UNRWA was made because the U.S. "was no longer willing to shoulder the very disproportionate share of the burden of UNRWA’s costs"
8 \ The statement also said most of the international community has not shown sufficient response to U.S. requests for burden share regarding UNRWA funding
9 \ In its statement the Trump administration criticized UNRWA for its "unsustainable and flawed business model and fiscal practices" mainly the agency's "endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries"
10 \ The Trump administration statement however did not say anything about the U.S. policy regarding the Palestinian refugees issue – one of the core issues in every final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians
11 \ A week ago a report on Israel's channel 2 news claimed the Trump administration is going to announce it was taking the refugees issue "off the table"
12 \ The channel 2 report also said U.S. will announce it doesn't recognize anymore UNRWA's refugee status & publish a report claiming there are only half million Palestinian refugees and not 5 million as UNRWA's registry says. The statement does not mention any of these things
13 \ A senior U.S. official told me those reports were false and stressed there is no change in U.S. policy on the Palestinian refugees issue at this time "but we continue to study and evaluate alternatives for an equitable resolution of all refugee issues"
14 \ The U.S. official also said the Trump administration is not trying to dismantle UNRWA and is hasn't asked Israel to stop UNRWA operations in the West Bank
15 \ What's next: Despite the decision to stop funding to UNRWA the Trump administration is going to try and find way to give aid to Palestinian refugees through different UN agencies or directly to host countries
16 \ The Trump administration statement said: "The U.S. is initiating dialogue with the United Nations, host governments, and international stakeholders about new models and new approaches, which may include direct bilateral assistance from the United States and other partners"
17 \ Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is supportive of the U.S. move but many in the Israeli defense establishment are worried it will lead to unrest in the West Bank and Gaza
18 \ Officials in Netanyahu's office told me Israel thinks the U.S. aid should be transferred to other organizations so that it could be spent for the benefit of the Palestinian population "and not for perpetuating the Palestinian refugee ethos"
19 \ The Palestinians who are boycotting the Trump administration since the December 6th Jerusalem announcement – see the U.S. decision on UNRWA as a further attempt to push them into excepting the peace plan the White House has been working on for months
20 \ Palestinian officials said the U.S. decision to cut the funding of UNRWA was "blackmail". END
