The Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip receives United Nations funding, new Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Avi Dichter (Likud) said on Tuesday at an Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel conference in Eilat. Speaking of the funding sources for U.N. activities in Gaza, Dichter said, "Every year, the U.S. gives $350 million and the EU gives $450 million. A clear majority of this money ends up in the pockets of Hamas." He also said, "In our area, there are Israel, the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, and the Hamas regime. Abbas has not visited Gaza in nine years. And unfortunately, PA leaders do not have the courage to take steps toward peace." On the Palestinian refugee issue, Dichter said, "It is no less the PA's problem than it is ours. Half of the residents of the PA are refugees." Dichter took over as chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last week, replacing fellow Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi, who was appointed a minister without a portfolio in the Prime Minister's Office.
