Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority say Tillerson's claim that the PA has changed its policy and will stop funding terror is unfounded.
"There is no end to the payments" of Palestinian prisoners, Issa Qaraqe, head of the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners' Affairs, similarly told the Times of Israel. In all, the Trump proposal cuts about 32 percent from USA diplomacy and aid budgets, or almost $19 billion. This includes a massive funding cut to overseas security for USA facilities, a move that has prompted security concerns.
Tillerson said he was seeking the assurances in advance of the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that the USA administration would like to see resume by the end of the summer.
Tillerson was challenged by Rep. Ted Deutch (D., Fla.) to explain his Tuesday remarks claiming that the Palestinians had ceased their payments to terrorists.
He said during the hearing to Tillerson, "I'm appalled that you have completely zeroed out - zeroed out - the democracy assistance account".
"Those were assurances that were given to me in the most recent trip to Bethlehem", he said. "It is certainly not acceptable to the American people". He says the Palestinians indicated they were changing the policy.
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But Palestinian officials said they were not aware of any change and that it was unlikely a policy that has been a cornerstone of social support for decades would be altered.
"There have been talks about making the payments in a different way, but not ending them", said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"They could perhaps be labelled differently", he said, suggesting the description "martyr" could be dropped, but he added: "They are not going to be stopped".
Last month, Nabil Sha'ath, a top aide to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, told Israel Radio that anyone who thinks the PA will stop remitting payments to the families of terrorists in Israeli prisons is "insane".
The comments by Mr. Tillerson, in testimony before the House Foreign Relations Committee, appeared to mark a departure from longstanding USA policy and represents a potential break from other world powers, including Germany and France, who have supported the cease-fire and peace accords reached in Minsk, Belarus, in 2014 and 2015.
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