Press Releases

United States Transfers $50 million to Palestinians

Ramallah
8/24/2005

Remarks by Consul General Walles at Signing Ceremony for US $50 Million Cash Transfer to the Palestinian Authority

Thank you very much. It’s great to be here in Ramallah. I also want to say thank you not just to you, but to all the other ministers who’ve shown up. There seem to be more ministers showing up as this goes along. I really appreciate the excellent turnout on the part of the Palestinian Authority. The cabinet secretary is here as well.

Today we’re here to implement the promise that President Bush made to President Abbas at the White House last May. At that time he promised that we would provide fifty million dollars in cash transfer to the Palestinian Authority for infrastructure projects in Gaza. This, as you said, Minister Fayyad, was less than three months ago and we’ve made a very serious effort to ensure that this money would be here as quickly as possible and that it would be available to the Palestinian Authority to use for these projects in Gaza just as soon as the Israeli disengagement was complete and we’re going to be seeing that occurring in a matter of weeks and days.

Today we’re going to be signing the final papers which will implement this, which was announced by President Bush. The purpose is, as I said, is to support the Palestinian Authority as it takes control now in Gaza following the disengagement. The money will be used for infrastructure projects to rehabilitate housing, schools and roads. We have worked together with the Ministry of Planning and USAID on a specific list of projects for which this money will be used. The purpose, of course, is to improve the lives of people in Gaza. We’re hoping that through this cash transfer we will have a direct and immediate impact on conditions in Gaza.

Let me also say that this is an important opportunity to build on the disengagement from Gaza, to ensure that Gaza is, as we’ve said, more open, more prosperous and more secure. That Gaza will not just be first but that there will be continuing steps beyond Gaza and that we will be able to build on the success in Gaza through projects such as this, but through other means as well in order to demonstrate hope to the Palestinian people for the future.

I want to recall the words that President Bush used in his comments yesterday about the disengagement. He said that once the disengagement was complete what he saw as the next step would be the people of Gaza having a government that was able to respond to the needs of the people in Gaza. What we’re doing here today is giving the Palestinian Authority the financial means in order to help do that. This is one part, and I agree with the Minister, that this should be a catalyst for other donors to provide assistance as well in this way to the Palestinian Authority so that the Authority can demonstrate to its people, initially in Gaza but also in the West Bank as well, that it’s able to meet their needs and improve the quality of their lives.

Finally, let me just say that while there have been cash grants like this before to the Palestinian Authority, this is by far the largest one and the most significant one. We couldn’t do it if we didn’t have confidence in the Authority and particularly in the Ministry of Finance in its ability to manage the money in a transparent and accountable way. The Ministry has instituted a number of important reforms, not just within the Ministry but within the Palestinian Authority more broadly, and these reforms give us great confidence that this money will be used in the way that it’s intended and that it will have an immediate and lasting impact on the lives of people in Gaza. Let me just say again, thank you very much and I appreciate your cooperation with us on this important project.