The Bide administration has indefinitely suspended US contributions to the Abraham Fund, Globes reported on Wednesday.

The Abraham Fund was established following the signing of the Abraham Accords to support the “development of the investment market of the private sector to promote economic cooperation and encourage prosperity in the Middle East and beyond.” The signatories, the US, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, committed to financing the fund, with other countries expected to join in the future.

The fund, which was already operating in October 2020, received hundreds of funding requests for various ventures in its first three months. It also began efforts to increase capital for the fund by approaching large financial institutions in the US.

However, all activities stopped with the election of Joe Biden as President. Shortly after Biden took office, Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, who had been appointed by Donald Trump to head the Abraham Fund, stepped down. The Biden administration has not appointed a successor.

Senior officials from Israel’s Foreign Ministry were told by US senior officials that the activities of the Abraham Fund were “being reassessed.” A senior US source told Globes that the White House is interested in promoting the Abraham Accords and bringing in more partners but it will only focus on diplomatic efforts rather than financial contributions.

An Israeli source confirmed this, saying that the Biden administration has made clear that it will not be financing the fund.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)