US Senator Rand Paul said Wednesday that the American government was “potentially” funding Hamas, through its donations to the Palestinian Authority. With the PA government now including Fatah, he said in an interview on an American radio show, it stood to reason that part of the “several hundred million dollars” in US funds given to the PA each year were being used to fund Hamas activities.
With Hamas currently conducting a war against Israeli civilians – and thus endangering Gaza civilians as well, said Paul – the US should consider suspending its aid to the PA, in order to choke off Hamas. If Hamas is to be a part of the PA's government, them funds should be suspended until the terrorist organization “renounces violence, recognizes Israel, recognizes the previous peace treaties,” added Paul.
Despite the unity government deal, officials of the US State Department have attempted to argue that Hamas will not take an active role in setting PA policy, and that the government is essentially a “technocratic” one that seeks to restore order to an increasingly chaotic PA. That, said Paul, was simple naivete, and that the State Department should know better.
The PA knows full well what Hamas' role is, said Paul, and any attempt to portray that role otherwise is an attempt to evade American rules on foreign aid. As a terrorist organization, Hamas has been banned from getting US aids.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182734
