US embassy cable - 05AMMAN6445

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 006445 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/11/2015 
TAGS: EAID, EFIN, PREF, PREL, KPAL, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN GOVERNMENTAL ASSISTANCE TO THE 
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY 
 
REF: A. STATE 146261 
 
     B. AMMAN 06238 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
1.  (C) Jordan (which formerly administered the West Bank) 
offers significant support to Palestinian society in keeping 
with its extensive economic and social ties to the 
Palestinian territories.  King Abdullah, who most recently 
met with Abu Mazen in Amman on August 2 (ref B), and other 
senior GOJ officials are steadfast in their political support 
for the Palestinian Authority (PA) under Abu Mazen and a 
peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  There 
is extensive cooperation between Jordanian and PA security 
services, and the GOJ recently reiterated its public offer to 
provide training in Jordan for Palestinian security officers. 
 Through the provisions of the Jordan-Israel peace treaty of 
1994, Jordan retains a vestigial link to the administration 
of Muslim and Christian holy sites in the West Bank and works 
closely with Palestinian religious authorities on the upkeep 
and refurbishment of these places.  The Jordanian Ministry of 
Awqaf and Religious Affairs also continues to pay the 
salaries of Awqaf employees in the West Bank, including East 
Jerusalem.  Of particular note, the GOJ expends extensive 
resources for the large Palestinian refugee population in 
Jordan, both those in official UNRWA camps and those outside 
them. 
 
2.  (C) Trade accords signed between the PA and its 
neighbors, including Jordan, in the 1990s have been a vehicle 
for technical cooperation to promote the PA's trade 
potential.  The GOJ has revised trade policies to facilitate 
the flow of trade with the West Bank in support of the PA. 
In a meeting with Charge August 11, Foreign Minister Faruok 
Kasrawi said that the Jordanian Ministry of Trade and 
Industry continues to work with the PA to aid the movement of 
Palestinian goods into Jordan, and is attempting to help the 
PA export products to Europe and elsewhere outside the 
region. 
 
3.  (U) Per ref A request, poloff consulted on August 10 with 
officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Amman office of 
the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Jordanian 
assistance to the PA.  Based on their responses and other 
available information, post has confirmed that as a recipient 
of extensive foreign assistance itself, the GOJ does not 
provide any budgetary support for the PA.  Jordan also does 
not, to our knowledge, help fund any development projects in 
the West Bank or Gaza, either directly or through a 
multilateral institution such as UNRWA. 
HALE