Israeli lawmakers seek to defund PA over terror incitement

Israel seeks to penalize the PA for its incentivizing of Palestinain terrorism through terrorist stipends.  

Israeli Members of Knesset (MK) introduced a law that would deduct NIS 1.1 billion (about $280,000,000) from tax revenues transferred from Israel to the Palestinian Authority (PA) over its payment of stipends to the families of Palestinian terrorists and those serving time in Israeli prisons for terrorism.

Under the PA, the more heinous the act of terror committed, the greater the reward, so the monthly payments serve as an incentive to commit acts of terrorism against Israelis.

The bipartisan legislation was introduced by MK Elazar Stern and will be debated at the Knesset next month.

“The funds transferred to terrorists are not just part of the larger issue of incitement, but they encourage Arabs to carry out terror attacks,” Stern stated. “It’s a real incentive to murder Jews, and we must stop this insanity immediately.”

The PA makes approximately $300 million in payments to terrorists and their families annually.

A document compiled by Brig.-Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs reveals PA payments to terrorists imprisoned in Israel and to the families of terrorists killed by security forces have recently increased tens of millions of shekels.

The average monthly salary an imprisoned terrorist receives is five times the average monthly PA salary. Even if the terrorists die, their families receive a grant.

Payments are managed by a PLO committee supported by the Palestinian National Fund, an organization which Israel designated as a terrorist organization last month. The US Congress has taken similar action when it introduced a bill last month that calls for the cutting of all US funding to the PA until it ceases giving monetary rewards to terrorists.

Hassan Abed Rabu, spokesperson for the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs, defended the payments and told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency that all Palestinian prisoners and the so-called “martyrs,” terrorists killed while committing attacks, had the “right to receive allowances.”

“Why is the Palestinian Authority paying young Palestinians to commit acts of terror against innocent Americans like Taylor Force or Israelis? The Palestinians need to decide – do they condemn these horrible acts or do they reward them? You can’t be a partner in peace when you are paying people to commit terrorist acts,” stated Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) when he introduced the bill.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News