Pro-Israel MPs urge UK to cut funding for PA

Pro-Israel politicians in Westminster are urging the UK government to cut aid for the Palestinian Authority (PA) by 14 per cent, as part of their ongoing campaign against so called “incitement”.

Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) has written to Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May asking her to ensure that British support to the PA is reduced as a punishment for continued Palestinian support for prisoners in Israeli jails and their families.

In their letter to the Prime Minister, LFI chair Joan Ryan, and fellow LFI stalwart Ian Austin, claim that the UK government’s strictly ringfenced funding to the PA “effectively frees up other money” to be used as support for prisoners.

LFI claims that the PA spends seven per cent of its budget on payments to Palestinian prisoners and the families of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces.

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“Until these payments stop,” the two MPs wrote, the UK should cut its aid to the PA by 14 per cent.

The MPs also revealed that they have asked 20 separate questions about the matter in Parliament.