Throughout Barack Obama’s eight years in office little headway has been made in resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict, despite initial promises to bring about Palestinian statehood.
Yet while many have expressed frustration with the Obama’s supposedly slack approach when it comes to Israel-Palestine, it appears his administration has sought to soothe ill-sentiments with a rather pricey parting gift: $221 million of funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The funds have been allocated to provide humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as other projects around governance and political reform.
While Republican members of Congress tried to block the allocation, their objections are not legally binding and State Department officials said they would release the money just hours before Donald Trump's inauguration on 20 January, Yahoo reported.
However, Obama's funding may be too little too late, give his actions over the last eight years in office and his unfulfilled promise of an Israel-Palestine peace agreement.
As President of the United States, he supported Israel’s isolation of the Gaza Strip and opposed Palestine’s bid to gain UN state recognition. Additionally, while critical of Israeli settlement expansion, Obama has done nothing to oppose it. Critics say his legacy could be the end of the two-state solution.
However, when compared to his successor, Donald Trump, Obama doesn’t seem all that bad.
The news of the funding comes as Donald Trump’s administration announces the “beginning stages” of plans to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that Palestinians say would signal the end to any prospect of peace.
Let’s hope this $221 million will help smooth over some of Trump’s more provocative moves in the region.
