In the overheated run-up to Palestinian action at the UN, demands multiplied – mostly from Congress, but in particular from GOP presidential aspirant Rick Perry – that the US cut its substantial security and economic aid to Palestinians if they pressed forward on statehood through the UN. But such a reaction, most analysts say, could be counterproductive and even work against Israeli security interests.
The US must not let the 2012 presidential campaign "paralyze its actions and good judgment," warns Anthony Cordesman, CSIS senior national-security analyst. He says that cuts in US aid to the Palestinian Authority should be off the table – for the sake of Palestinian moderates as well as for Israel, which works closely with Palestinian security forces.
Moreover, the US must reassure Arab states that it will continue to support change in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, Dr. Cordesman says, even as it withdraws from Iraq.
