US seeks to relieve Israel with new aid to Jordan: Analyst
The new US pledge to boost annual aid to Jordan by more than $1 billion over the next five years is designed to assist Amman accept more Palestinian refugees and relieve the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel, a human rights lawyer and peace activist says.
“It may be that the US might want to support Jordan to take in more Palestinian refugees which would also relieve Israel to some extent,” said Dan Kovalik, a critic of the US foreign policy.
“Israel always seems to a reason for something that the US is doing in the Middle East,” Kovalik told Press TV on Wednesday.
The United States agreed Wednesday to send aid worth over $1.2 billion a year for the next five years to Jordan despite US President Donald Trump’s threats to punish countries that do not agree with US policy in the Middle East.
Jordan voted in December to condemn Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's capital and criticized the Trump administration for withholding millions of dollars in funding for Palestinian refugees, many of whom live in Jordan.
Under the deal signed Wednesday in Amman by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the US commits to providing at least $750 million a year in economic support and $350 million in military aid.
The agreement to assist Jordan, from 2018 until 2022, boosts Washington's aid package to the key American ally by $275 million a year or $1.4 for the 5-year period.
Jordan is one of the world's largest recipients of American aid, having received over $20 billion since 1951. The kingdom also relies heavily on aid from the European Union and Saudi Arabia.
In recent years, Jordan’s economy has been battered by the conflicts in neighboring Iraq and Syria and its public debt stands at around $35 billion.
With a large Palestinian population, Jordan is unhappy with Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there.
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