Hannah Rosenthal is one American Jewish leader with whom I would agree far more than Morton Klein, but on one issue I could be identified to the right of Klein: the question of United States aid to the Palestinian Authority.



In an initial legislative step, the US House of Representatives earlier this month endorsed spending $200 million in economic assistance to the West Bank and Gaza territories, as part of the larger $81.4 billion emergency war spending bill, passed 388 to 43. The Senate takes up the bill next month.



That $200 million is precisely the amount that New York City school officials hoped would be added to the proposed state budget for city schools, as the New York Daily News reported last Friday.



Rosenthal's organization, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, voted unanimously during its annual policy conference on February 28 to support the Bush administration's request for $350 million in direct aid to the PA, according to a story in the Forward.



Klein, who is national director of the New York-based Zionist Organization of America, said, "We should demand that any money should be linked explicitly, directly and unequivocally to compliance with their obligations: Dismantle the terrorist organizations, end incitement, close the bomb factories and arrest the terrorists."



Probably the United States should fork over the money to the Palestinians, so long as there is strict accountability - in the name of political expediency. As far as can be discerned, nobody has posed this essential question: Why should America contribute money to the Palestinians? The only answers I hear are of a pragmatic nature, to bolster a Palestinian government that claims to be moderate and nonviolent. Maybe it is, but that does not explain why an already strapped US government should assume part of the financial responsibility.



Let's be clear about one thing. Any people in a distressed condition deserve help to get on their feet and thrive. The Palestinian people are certainly mired in a disastrous economic condition, and none of us have any reason to want them to continue to suffer.



Is the United States to blame for their condition? Is America in any shape to help them? With some reservations, no. With no reservations, no.



The Palestinian people are in dire straits mainly due to the Arab world's persistent hostility toward Israel. Arab countries attacked Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973, and lost. In fact, Israel seized control of Gaza, eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967.



In the summer of 2000, the Palestinian Authority rebuffed a proposal that would have granted the Palestinians a state comprising Gaza, part of Jerusalem and a contiguous West Bank. American Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross wrote in his book The Missing Peace that the Palestinians initiated an outright war.



Ross's book also reports that after four months of bloodshed, President Clinton and Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians a fine-tuned settlement, but Yasser Arafat turned down that plan. The rest is history.



Neither the United States nor Israel has been pure in this conflict. However, any transgressions on Israel's part were carried out in the context of a persistent state of war initiated by the Arab world.



For that matter, where have the Arab nations been during the last half-century? They could have paid for Palestinian aid long ago.



Which brings us back to Hannah Rosenthal. She is the departing executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Rosenthal has attempted to make poverty - and budget-related issues -- a top priority for JCPA, which serves as an umbrella group for 13 national Jewish organizations and 127 local Jewish communities to coordinate positions on numerous issues.



The Forward quoted Rosenthal saying, "This is a time that begs that we speak out on injustices. This is a time that calls for voices to fill the disgraceful silence of complacency. This is a time that calls for more advocacy. Not a time to pull punches."



If the JCPA had to choose between fighting for aid to vulnerable Americans and supporting aid to the Palestinians, what would they do? What should they do?



Millions of people in the United States are unemployed or under-employed and cope without medical insurance. People still live on the streets, children attend inadequate schools and cities and states have gone broke. Doesn't charity begin at home?



The federal budget is mired in a severe deficit. If the federal government has no money to help its poor, then $200 million or more for the Palestinians siphons off money that can be spent at home. Just $200 million can plug some school and municipal budgets.



Besides, the JCPA is dealing with an administration in Washington that persists in making life miserable for its most vulnerable citizens. JCPA's chances of helping poor Americans would have a far better chance of success if it focused its efforts on domestic policies rather than such foreign ventures as aiding the Palestinians. For decades, some Arab nations have starved the United States by collecting up to trillions of dollars in oil money. They can easily afford to spend it on the Palestinians - if they have not blown it all on vacation palaces.