Did USAID Fund October 7?

A report recently came out exposing whose pockets were being filled with millions of American tax dollars through USAID. The organization, originally founded to support those in need, appears to have lost its focus in recent years. This raises a troubling question for readers: “Did USAID fund October 7 using my tax dollars?“

What is USAID?

USAID, or the United States Agency for International Development, is an organization with this stated intention:

“The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.”

A cause such as this is undoubtedly a noble one. But it comes with a significant responsibility to ensure that the aid is not misused. This breakdown of responsibility is precisely what happened with USAID.

What Did USAID Do?

The main source of friction between USAID and the Trump administration is that a large portion of sub-awardees were unreported. This has led to extensive difficulties for investigators attempting to vet fraud allegations. These unreported sub-awardees are largely located in the Gaza Strip. 

Some instances have involved USAID actually funding terrorism. For example, one of the projects USAID funded was an “educational and community center in Gaza.”

While funding schools can be a great way to “engage in democratic reforms,” there’s a significant issue with funding this particular institute. It is controlled by a group named the “Unlimited Friends Association.” This association has been featured in Hamas-controlled newspapers and has publicly cooperated with Hamas. 

There’s no doubt that this institute could be a risky investment for USAID, but an important question arises about the content taught at the center. Does it promote terrorist ideologies, or does it offer a standard Western education? There is little doubt in the answer to this considering a public statement made in 2021 by the director of the Unlimited Friends Association, when he called for “al-Aqsa to be cleansed of the impurity of the Jews.”

Did USAID Fund October 7 Through the Bayader Association?

Another example is how the USAID has given $900,000 to Bayader Association for Environment and Development (a charity in Gaza). One of the donations was made just six days before the deadly assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. While environmental development is beneficial in theory, the benefit is undermined by the group’s deep-seated hatred for Jews. Bayader is closely linked to Hamas, to the point that when they hosted an event in the Gaza Strip, Abdul Salam Haniyeh, son of Ismail Haniyeh, was one of their guests.

While it would be nice to think that Abdul Haniyeh had chosen a different path from his father (the former head of Hamas), based on comments made by Abdul, his ideology remains unchanged. After his father’s assassination in Iran, Abdul made the following remark about his death:

[Ismail Haniyeh] and all martyrs will sustain the nation, resistance, and revolution until victory.

Given this, we can reasonably assume that Abdul’s ideology was consistent with his father’s at the event hosted by Bayader.

How Much Money USAID Actually Given Away to Terrorists?

While costs like $900,000 are large sums to the average family, on a federal scale, they don’t appear to be so drastic as to call for the freeze and restructuring of USAID. Unfortunately, this is only a small portion of the funds given over to hostile entities.

A multi-year study found that $164,000,000 in grants approved went to radical organizations. Of this, $122 million went to groups aligned with designated terrorists and their supporters. To reiterate an earlier point, much of this funding, along with billions more allocated to American aid charities, has not been properly vetted.

USAID Has Opposed Israel in Other Ways

Samantha Power, former ambassador to the UN and administrator of USAID during Joe Biden’s presidency, steered the organization down extremely anti-Israel paths. Agency officials frequently opposed pro-Israel policymaking within the State Department. In 2021, after the White House National Security Council had approved a meeting between Power and then-Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan, Power refused to meet with him unless Israel reached a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Here’s What Some U.S. Officials Are Saying About USAID

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz had some strong words to say about their experiences with USAID. Marco Rubio recounted some of his interactions with them as follows:

“The level of insubordination makes it impossible to conduct a sort of mature and serious review that I think foreign aid writ large should have.”

Ted Cruz’s response to the recently published details of USAID’s shortcomings is an exceptional summary of what has taken place over the last four years:

“The full story of USAID funding Hamas is vast, and much of it was done in secret. Before and after October 7, USAID flowed uncountable hundreds of millions of dollars toward Hamas that enabled it to launch the attack and keep battling Israel afterwards. 

They lied about the nature of that aid in public databases, refused to disclose what groups were getting the money, and gave tens of millions in American cash to be distributed without American supervision. 

They internally admitted the aid would benefit Hamas, and even exempted themselves from anti-terrorism laws, but in public issued denials. 

For all four years of the Biden administration, I prevented them from confirming a Middle East administrator because they wouldn’t acknowledge what they were doing, because continuing their secret pro-Hamas programs was more important to them.”

 What is the Future of USAID?

The Trump administration is planning to reduce the number of workers from approximately 10,000 to only 600. In addition to this, he is planning to dissolve the organization and place it within the State Department. 

This is a controversial decision, but the reality is that a change is long overdue. When the recipients of money are intentionally hidden and, most often, hidden when directed into areas that are infested with terrorism, the intentions become clear. If the money had been given over to credible causes, then there would be no need to hide where it went.

With these new revelations in mind, a portion in Luke 12 comes to mind:

“For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.”