Presidential Waiver of Restrictions on U.S. Aid to the Palestinians

Since the passage of the 2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, the U.S. Congress has included a stipulation in each annual bill prohibiting foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it takes measures to stop terrorism and demonstrates a commitment to peaceful coexistence with Israel. Each bill has included a loophole in which the President can issue a waiver to bypass the aid restrictions if he believes it to be in the national security interests of the United States.

Since 2006, Presidents Bush and Obama have both issued the waiver every year. The following is the text of President Obama's latest waiver, issued in July 2013. The text changes slightly each year to accomodate changing bill numbers.

SUBJECT: Waiver of Restrictions on Providing Funds to the Palestinian Authority

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7040(b) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2012 (Division I, Public Law 112-74) (the "Act") as carried forward by the Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (Division F, Public Law 113-6) (the "CR"), I hereby certify that it is important to the national security interests of the United States to waive the provisions of section 7040(a) of the Act as carried forward by the CR, in order to provide funds appropriated to carry out chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act, as amended, to the Palestinian Authority.

You are directed to transmit this determination to the Congress, with a report pursuant to section 7040(d) of the Act as carried forward by the CR, and to publish this determination in the Federal Register.

Sources: The White House; JTA, New York Times