Date: Monday, September 30, 2019
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer, Director

"Happy New Year"

The White House issued a statement yesterday from President Trump celebrating Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year, which began at sunset last night. Below are excerpts of the president's statement.

"As the High Holy Days commence, Melania and I wish those observing Rosh Hashanah a blessed and happy New Year.

"This sacred day marks the start of a 10-day period of both celebration and reflection. Throughout the High Holy Days, those in the Jewish community engage in prayer and repentance, which culminate in the holiest day of the year in Judaism, Yom Kippur.

"Each day, with the blowing of the shofar, the Jewish people embark on a new spiritual journey to grow closer to Hashem and find a renewed sense of purpose in their faith. . .

"Melania and I pray that those celebrating Rosh Hashanah build a more meaningful relationship with God throughout the High Holy Days. May the Almighty bless you all."

"Demand More"

Jason Greenblatt has spent the past two and a half years attempting to negotiate a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians as President Trump's special representative for international negotiations. I have met with Mr. Greenblatt on several occasions and I assure you that he has devoted his heart and soul to the task of peace.

In recent weeks, Greenblatt announced his intention to resign his position and return to the private sector. Before he steps down, he is offering some last-minute advice on the peace process.

In a recent column, he urged the world to demand more from the Palestinian leadership. He urged donor countries to stop providing handouts and to demand accountability. Just like the solution to every domestic issue is not always more money, more money won't change Hamas or the current Palestinian leadership. In fact, it could make things worse.

Here are some excerpts of Greenblatt's column.

"Palestinians are among the largest recipients of donor assistance per capita in the world today. Yet despite decades of work, billions of dollars, euros, shekels, and dinars donated, life continues to get worse in Gaza and in what some call the West Bank and others call Judea and Samaria.

"Hamas has driven Gaza to a state of utter desperation. With unemployment at nearly 50 percent (the highest in the world), Hamas' decade-long experiment in governance is an utter failure. The West Bank has fared better, but efforts there are frustrated by the Palestinian Authority's self-made budget crisis, its continued diversion of funding to reward terrorists. . .

"Donor countries must ask themselves why they should keep struggling to raise money when everyone can plainly see the Hamas regime and the Palestinian Authority are squandering the opportunities that donor money provides for a better future for all Palestinians.

"Just this week Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said: 'We won't deduct one penny from the salaries of our prisoners, martyrs [terrorists] and the injured.' Is that where donor countries want their limited tax dollars to go? . . .

"Peace requires that we acknowledge the basic reality of the situation on the ground, where policies have worked, and where they have failed. . . The conventional approach has brought us no closer to a final peace agreement. . . We need a new approach. . .

"When it comes to aid from the United States, we have determined that our aid dollars could provide more benefit to other parts of the world. We will not continue to invest in temporary solutions that only prolong the cycle of suffering and violence.

"In June we laid out an economic plan that would invigorate the Palestinian economy as well as the surrounding region if we achieve a peace agreement. The Palestinian Authority boycotted our workshop and tried to stop others from attending. When some brave Palestinians attended they were bullied, threatened and had their businesses confiscated. . .

"It is time to demand more of the Palestinian leaders. . . Palestinians deserve greater dignity, greater opportunity and greater freedoms, none of which will be accomplished through maintaining the status quo of donations. It won't help in the West Bank and it certainly won't help in Gaza. . .

"It's time to help Palestinians live better lives. And in that process, hopefully we will also achieve peace."