“When someone says its not about money,” the satirist H.L. Mencken famously said, “it’s about money.” Yet, the recent decision by the Palestinian Authority to refuse U.S. aid is about more than money. It’s about the refusal by the P.A. to be held accountable for the acts of terrorism that the West Bank-ruling entity endorses.

In a Dec. 26, 2018 letter made public several weeks later, P.A. Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the Authority would reject U.S. financial support. The letter spelled out why: “The Government of Palestine respectfully informs the United States Government that, as of January 31st, 2019, it fully disclaims and no longer wishes to accept any form of assistance referenced in ATCA…the Government of Palestine unambiguously makes the choice not to accept such assistance.”