JERUSALEM Ñ Israel has relayed evidence to the European Union that
its aid to the Palestinian Authority is being diverted to finance insurgency attacks.
Israeli officials said the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has
sent captured PA documents on the Palestinian use of EU aid.
Over the last year, the EU has provided more than $70 million to the PA
to pay salaries of
members of the more than 100,000 Palestinian civil servants. The EU aid has
earmarked for paying the salaries of Palestinian police officers, Middle East Newsline reported.
Israeli officials said the Sharon government sent a report to Brussels
that details PA use of EU funding. The report asserts that the PA pays 20
percent less to its officers than reported to the EU. The difference is
pocketed by the PA.
PA officers are said to earn between $250 and $500 a month, officials
said. But their salaries are paid in Israeli currency and based on an
exchange rate that amounts to 3.6 shekels to the dollar. The actual
conversion rate is close to five shekels per dollar.
The result is that the PA earns $2.5 million a month from the EU aid,
which it then uses to fund insurgents, the report said. Officials said a
similar report was presented to the United States.
PA officials acknowledged the discrepancy in exchange rates but said the
practice is used to maintain a cap on public sector salaries.
In an unrelated development, NATO has rejected the prospect of sending
peacekeepers to separate Israeli and Palestinian forces in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., NATO
secretary-general George Robertson said there was no point in sending a
peacekeeping force without peace in the region. Robertson said NATO has not
received a formal proposal to send a peacekeeping mission.
On Tuesday, Israel's Cabinet rejected a United Nations demand to accept
an international contingent to investigate the Israeli military capture of
the West Bank city of Jenin earlier this month. Israeli officials said UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan failed to honor his pledge regarding the terms
of reference of the investigation.
