Canteen allowances for prisoners amount to ‎‎3 million shekels per month‎

     ‎“The [PA] Finance Ministry and the [PLO] ‎Authority of Prisoners’ and Released ‎Prisoners’ Affairs emphasized that the ‎prisoners’ canteen allowances for the ‎month of August [2014] have been ‎transferred to the banks in keeping with ‎the usual procedure. ‎The Finance Ministry and the Prisoners’ ‎Authority emphasized in a joint press ‎release today, Tuesday [Sept. 9, 2014], ‎that they are working, in consultation with ‎the prisoners and all relevant factors, to ‎fix the canteen [allowance] payment ‎system. In addition, they are working to ‎create a new system that will ensure ‎preferable alternatives to answer the ‎prisoners’ needs, protect their honor and ‎prevent anyone from exploiting them.‎ In addition, they emphasized that the ‎government will not avoid the payments ‎related to prisoners in prison, [including] ‎canteen [allowances], despite the state’s ‎severe financial crisis.‎ The announcement read [as follows]: ‎‎‘The understandings [we] have had with ‎the Israel Prison Service and the Israeli ‎DDS company, and which are applicable ‎today, stipulate that there must be ‎equality between the regular criminal ‎prisoners and the fighter security ‎prisoners. In addition, it should be noted ‎that these understandings, which drain ‎the treasury, have unfair repercussions, ‎as they exclude the prisoners from ‎Jerusalem and the prisoners of 1948 (i.e., ‎because they are Israeli Arabs and not ‎considered citizens of the PA).’ ‎[The announcement] added: ‘The sum ‎total of the canteen [allowances], which ‎is close to 3 million shekels a month, ‎includes 800,000 shekels a month for ‎criminal prisoners, meaning 9 million ‎shekels a year. The sum total over the ‎past 10 years reached approximately 90 ‎million shekels.’”‎