Report: Biden administration promotes opening Palestinian university in the West Bank
The USAID-backed university project reportedly has received a green light from the White House
Israeli Channel 14 News reported on Monday that the Biden administration has given the green light for the opening of a new university for Palestinians in the West Bank.
The project is being promoted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which ceased all assistance to the Palestinian Authority under former U.S. President Donald Trump but resumed the funding under President Joe Biden.
The planned academic facility is slated for area C in Judea and Samaria, which covers 60% of the disputed territory and is fully under Israeli civil and security administration. Some 450,000 Israelis and around 330,000 Palestinians live in the area.
According to the report, the idea to establish a new Palestinian university came up in a closed discussion in April.
Channel 14 quoted a USAID official as saying that the initiative has “verbal approval from the White House.” The official stated that potential locations for the educational facility will be “unofficially examined” in the coming weeks.
Biden visited the West Bank in July on a trip to the Middle East and announced that the U.S. is a partner in the work to “improve the day-to-day lives of the Palestinian people.”
Biden pledged more than $600 million in humanitarian assistance through UNRWA and an additional $100 million in support of healthcare services for Palestinians.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
