Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations today welcomed the bipartisan compromise to revise pending legislation in the Senate that would withhold US assistance to the Palestinian Authority if it continues its payments to reward terrorists and their families for murdering Israelis.
Stephen M. Greenberg, Chairman and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO said, “We welcome the announcement by Sen. Corker (R-TN), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that an agreement has been reached on a revised version of the Taylor Force Act and that the legislation will be taken up by the Foreign Relations Committee at a meeting tomorrow. This is yet another sign of the bipartisan commitment in Congress to the security of Israel and to ending the Palestinian Authority’s outrageous incitement to violence against Israelis, and the financial inducements provided to carry out acts of terrorism."
"It is particularly important for this legislation to move forward quickly in light of the news that nearly one-half of the foreign aid received by the Palestinian Authority is budgeted for rewarding Palestinian terrorists who murdered Israelis and visitors to Israel like Taylor Force.
We look forward to swift passage of the Taylor Force Act.”
The The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) also endorsed the revised bill Wednesday, breaking months of silence over the effort to punish the PA for paying terrorists.
"The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to consider the Taylor Force Act (S.1697) tomorrow. We urge members to vote yes," AIPAC tweeted.
“The Taylor Force Act does not affect US funding for security cooperation, nor does it cut humanitarian programs if the US government can certify that the PA is taking credible steps to end violence against Israelis and Americans,” the group added.
“We are hopeful that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee markup will produce a strong, bipartisan bill that will send a very clear message to the Palestinian Authority: Stop these payments to terrorists and their families or your assistance will be cut.”
The Zionist Organization of America news release hedged its support, declaring:
The Taylor Force Act was named for an American citizen who was murdered in an Arab terrorist attack in Tel Aviv in 2016.