Rep. Mark Sanford (AP/Rainier Ehrhardt)
Congressmen are working to ensure that no US aid ends up being used as an incentive for Palestinian terrorism.
US Congressman last week introduced a bill whose objective is to ensure that American taxpayer dollars will not be used to reward Palestinian terrorists.
The No Bonuses for Terrorist Act of 2017, introduced by Congressmen Ted Budd (R-NC) and Mark Sanford (R-SC), acknowledges and stops the practice of US foreign aid given to the Palestinian Authority being used to fund acts of terrorism perpetrated against Israeli civilians.
“The news of President Obama’s last-minute transfer of $221 million to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is a clear reminder that we need to take every measure possible to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t being used to reward acts of terror,” stated Budd.
The transfer was subsequently frozen by President Donald Trump’s State Department.
The existing US law allows for the reduction of US aid to the PA based on the amount of payments it makes to terrorists and their families, but the PA circumvents the law by giving the terrorism incentives through third party organizations, like the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
“This bill is simple. It would direct the Secretary of State to certify to Congress that the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Liberation Organization have ceased all financial rewards to terrorists or their families. If the Secretary of State cannot certify this, our bill would redirect that money to Israel’s Iron Dome system,” Budd explained.
Sanford and Budd’s bill is the strongest legislation yet to block any and all US payment that will benefit terrorists or their families.
“To me, this is unacceptable. When the American people support other nations, our generosity shouldn’t be used to support terrorism in any way. And pausing these funds until we’re certain they aren’t being used as such seems like an obvious response to the problem,” said Sanford.
According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), The PA devotes NIS 486 million ($127 million) of its annual budget to paying salaries to terrorists.
An additional NIS 660 million ($174 million) of the PA’s annual budget is earmarked for paying allowances to the families of those killed or wounded in the act of “resisting” Israel.
PMW reported last month that the family of the terrorist who murdered four IDF soldiers in a truck ramming attack in Jerusalem would receive a NIS 6,000 ($575) grant, as well as a monthly allowance of NIS 2,900 shekels ($760).
This is far from a singular occurrence, PMW pointed out. More than 30,000 families of Palestinian terrorists receive these benefits.
Director of the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority of the Palestinian Authority, Issa Karake, has strongly denied that payments to prisoners are welfare support for the families. Rather, he emphasized that these payments are a reward “out of esteem for their sacrifice and struggle.”
By: Aryeh savir, World Israel News
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