Huckabee and PA Vice President Tackle West Bank Unrest, PA Funding, Christmas Travel During an Unusual Ramallah Visit
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has quietly stepped up his engagement with the Palestinian Authority (PA), holding a rare sitdown in Ramallah on Wednesday with PA Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh. The conversation focused on mounting unrest in the West Bank and the PA’s deepening budget crisis, according to officials who spoke to the Times of Israel.
The encounter was only their second known meeting since Donald Trump returned to the US presidency, highlighting a cautious reengagement between Washington and the PA leadership.
According to the Times of Israel, the talks focused on rising tensions in the West Bank in the face of heightened Israeli military operations and settler attacks, the latter an issue that has drawn sharp criticism from most UN Security Council members and European states, even as Washington has avoided formally joining those condemnations.
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Another major issue raised was Israel’s ongoing withholding of Palestinian tax revenues, a key source of PA income. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has blocked large portions of these transfers, moves analysts say deepen the PA’s fiscal crisis and weaken its ability to govern.
The Times of Israel also reported that al-Sheikh asked Huckabee—who is an ordained minister—to help secure permits for Palestinian Christians to access Jerusalem and Bethlehem over Christmas, amid tighter movement restrictions throughout the West Bank.
A US Embassy spokesperson described the meeting as constructive and said both sides intend to continue the dialogue, including holding a followup session at the staff level next month.
