Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff is now endorsing legislation that would cut off U.S. funding to the de facto Palestinian government if it continued to aid terrorists after he initially declined to endorse the GOP-led measure.
A campaign spokeswoman told the Washington Free Beacon in an email Tuesday that if elected, Ossoff will vote for the Taylor Force Act, which would strip American funding from the Palestinian Authority until it stopped granting payments to terrorists and their families.
The endorsement came two days after Ossoff refused to back the bill while speaking at a Jewish War Veterans meeting in a suburb of Atlanta, Ga., on Sunday. Though Ossoff suggested he was receptive to the measure, he stopped short of pledging support, according to local media.
Ossoff again declined to support the bill on Monday. He told the Free Beacon in an emailed statement that he intended to introduce his own measure to block U.S. funding from the Palestinian Authority should it continue to stipend terrorists.
"In my first week in office, I'll introduce legislation authorizing the State Department to cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority if it is funding families of terrorists, as well as directing the State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies to work more aggressively to prevent the terrorist group Hamas from increasing its influence in the West Bank," Ossoff said.
Pressed to clarify how this differed from the Taylor Force Act, a campaign spokeswoman replied a day later that Ossoff will vote for the legislation if elected.
The Taylor Force Act, introduced by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R., Colo.) in February, is named in honor of U.S. Army veteran Taylor Force, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist last year while on a Vanderbilt University tour in Tel Aviv.
Republican Karen Handel, who is running against Ossoff in Georgia's 6th congressional district, offered a full-fledged endorsement of the Taylor Force Act during the same meeting on Sunday.
"Why on Earth (do) we give money to organizations that sponsor terrorism?" Handel said. "It’s commonsense … Why would we pay money to the very people who are killing our own citizens, and citizens of our allies?"
Handel also criticized the Iran nuclear deal inked under former President Barack Obama to deter Tehran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for relaxed economic sanctions.
The State Department in January released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority before the Trump administration took office. In 2016, the Obama administration gave the group $357 million, according to the Times of Israel.
Ossoff, who will face Handel in a runoff election on June 20, has faced criticism for his ties to anti-Israel entities. A financial disclosure report filed in March unveiled that Ossoff has received over $5,000 from Qatari-owned Al Jazeera since January 2016.
Ossoff also worked five years as a congressional staffer for Rep. Hank Johnson (D, Ga.), who compared Jewish settlers in Israel to termites during July's Democratic National Convention. Johnson has endorsed Ossoff.