As the Biden administration resets the United States’ posture toward Israel and the Palestinians, Congress included a bit of hope for the region in passing a bipartisan spending bill that closed out 2020. The Nita M. Lowey Partnership Fund for Peace Act provides $250 million over five years to achieve two critical objectives: bolster the Palestinian economy and support peace and reconciliation programs in the region. It is the United States’ largest investment in Israeli-Palestinian peace to date and the first effort of its kind to pass Congress since the 1993 Oslo Accords. And although it may look like a pittance to some, the fund injects a modicum of momentum into a peace process that has been backsliding for decades.
Across the Palestinian territories, the economy is in deep decline. Combined, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have one of the highest unemployment rates in the world; poverty levels are close to 30 percent. COVID-19 is worsening economic conditions and threatening an already overtaxed, underequipped health care system in Gaza. Palestinians may be last in line for a vaccine.
