Victims of terrorist attacks by Palestinians are suing the Biden administration for allegedly providing taxpayer funds to the Palestinian government.
America First Legal Foundation (AFL), which is leading the suit on behalf of the victims, accused President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken of violating the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits the U.S. government from sending taxpayer funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) until it stops providing support for terrorism, the Washington Free Beacon reported. AFL and Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson allege in the suit that the Biden administration violated the law by resuming aid to the PA that was suspended under former President Donald Trump.
SCOOP: Biden Admin Sued for Funding Palestinian Terrorism — Landmark lawsuit seeks total halt of taxpayer funds. Suit led by @RonnyJacksonTX, @America1stLegal, & terror victims https://t.co/qn1HZGCBmz
— Adam Kredo (@Kredo0) December 20, 2022
The State Department confirmed that the PA has continued to pay the families of terrorists who carry out attacks against Westerners in a “pay-to-slay” program, according to the Washington Free Beacon, which first reported on the lawsuit. The Taylor Force Act was implemented in 2018 with the aim of ending this practice.
The PA provided nearly $1.5 billion to convicted terrorists and their families between 2013 and 2020, according to the suit. The U.S. provided more than half a billion dollars in aid to Palestinians in the first year of the Biden administration, the Washington Free Beacon reported. The administration maintains this is within the law because it primarily flows through non-governmental organizations in the region providing humanitarian assistance, but the lawsuit alleges this is a technicality meant to skirt the law.
“Our lawsuit seeks to stop President Biden from violating the Taylor Force Act and illegally subsidizing terrorism against Americans who visit or live in Israel,” AFL President Stephen Miller said in a press release. “The Taylor Force Act is named after Taylor Force, a West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist, and it prohibits the government from using U.S. taxpayer dollars to directly benefit the corrupt Palestinian Authority. Nevertheless, since January 2021, the Biden Administration has used over a billion U.S. taxpayer dollars for this illegal purpose.” (RELATED: ‘Dangerous Cocktail’: Palestine’s Crumbling Government Is Fueling Violence Against Israel, Experts Say)
The plaintiffs in the suit include Rep. Jackson, Taylor Force’s parents Stuart and Robbie, and Sarri Singer, the survivor of a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 2003.