WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is lobbying Congress to unblock $200 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority that was frozen due to its bid for UN recognition of statehood over US and Israeli objections.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday the administration was in "intensive" discussions with key lawmakers who had put holds on the money, a financial lifeline for the fledgling Palestinian government-in-waiting.
RELATED:Obama opposes withholding funds to the PAErekat: US cannot use aid as blackmail against the PA"We still have some money in the pipeline but the concern is that if we don't get this going with the Congress in short order there could be an effect on the ground," Nuland told a news briefing.
"There have been some concerns in some parts of Congress and we are trying to work through those," she said.
Lawmakers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have moved in recent weeks to freeze the flow of aid to the Palestinians that had been appropriated for fiscal year 2011.
Representative Kay Granger, the Republican chairwoman of the House subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, placed her hold in August "until the issue of statehood is resolved" at the United Nations, her spokesman, Matt Leffingwell, said.
"My boss is watching what is happening at the UN, and constantly reevaluating," he said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last month submitted a formal
application to the UN Security Council for recognition of Palestinian
statehood, ignoring a US threat to veto the measure if it is put to
vote.
The United States and Israel both say that Palestinian statehood can
only come through resuming direct peace negotiations that collapsed a
year ago.
Abbas has said he will only return to talks with a new settlement
freeze, complicating efforts by the "Quartet" of Middle East peace
mediators - the United States, the European Union, the United Nations
and Russia - to get both sides back to the negotiating table quickly.