Will the "Trump effect" change how EU development agencies fund anti-Israel NGOs?

One of the fascinating things about Donald Trump is that he can, and does, change the conversation with his way-out-there ideas and musings. Things that have been excluded from public discourse become ideas to be talked about, even if it is only to treat them dismissively.

Trump's moves to close USAID might have a ripple effect on similar development agencies in Europe.

Hundreds of millions that have flowed readily to anti-Israel NGOs might start to be questioned by citizens of Western Europe who are concerned about what their own taxes are paying for, and if the recipients align with their own national interest. 

The UK's  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spends about $2 billion annually on NGOs. A roughly similar amount is spent by Germany's Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). France, Sweden and Canada also give a lot of money to international NGOs.

USAID was the 900 pound gorilla for international development aid, giving over $25 billion a year to NGOs, about 60% of its total outlay. NGO Monitor identifies some of the grantees and sub-grantees, such as:

Palestinian NGO Juzoor for Health and Social Development received millions of dollars as a sub-grantee on USAID-funded projects during the period reviewed in the GAO audit. Both prior to and during the grant period, Juzoor ran a program that arranged meetings between teenagers and convicted Palestinian terrorists; in addition, its staff members glorified violence against Israelis.

Cutting so many programs at once carries some risks, but there is really no way to streamline and fix their existing problems otherwise. The question is how many other countries will now consider doing something similar?

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