Editorial in PA daily supports Abbas’ stance against US, tax cuts: “Palestine's money will go first to its sons, to the Martyrs and prisoners, Israeli-US policy is "delusion of the despicable racist arrogance”
Excerpt of editorial by the official PA daily
Headline: "He will not succumb"
"The American administration will resort to harsher and graver pressure against [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas so that he will accept [US President Donald] Trump's Zionist deal (i.e., referring to Trump's as yet unpublished Middle East peace plan), and we are relating to this and emphasizing it because the Israeli decision to steal the Palestinian tax money today [Feb. 19, 2019] (referring to implementation of Israeli law to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money; see note below –Ed.) is nothing but an American decision basically, and President Mahmoud Abbas knows this, and he has taken this into account since he said no to this rotten deal… The American administration must understand once and for all that President Mahmoud Abbas will not be like Faust who made a pact with the devil after selling his soul to him, because the believing soul of President Mahmoud Abbas is the soul of Palestine, which is not for sale or to be bargained over… Palestine's money will go first to its sons, to the Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners. 'If we have only one penny left, it will go to these righteous people' – this is President Mahmoud Abbas' firm decision, from which he will not retreat in any way… The American-Israeli theft of Palestine's money is nothing but a delusion of the despicable racist arrogance, which has not and will not understand the truth of the defiance and resolve of the free Palestinians, which has now become an anthem following President Mahmoud Abbas' position – no to the deal of the century, Jerusalem is not for sale, and we will never concede on the bread of the families of our Martyrs and prisoners."
Law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money - Israeli law stating that the PA payments to terrorists and the families of dead terrorists is a financial incentive to terror. The law instructs the state to deduct and freeze the amount of money the PA pays in salaries to imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. Should the PA stop these payments for a full year, the Israeli government would have the option of giving all or part of the frozen money to the PA.
The law was enacted by the Israeli Parliament on July 2, 2018, and its first implementation was approved by Israel's Security Cabinet on Feb. 17, 2019, when it decided to withhold 502,697,000 Israeli shekels (approximately $138 million) from the PA. In response, the PA announced it would not receive any of the tax money collected by Israel unless it also included the frozen amount.
During the initial parliamentary vote in 2018, the law's sponsor Avi Dichter said: “The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee received much help in its deliberations... from Palestinian Media Watch who provided us with authentic data that enabled productive and professional deliberations, nuances that are very difficult to achieve without precise data.” [Israeli Parliament website, July 2, 2018]
Headline: "He will not succumb"
"The American administration will resort to harsher and graver pressure against [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas so that he will accept [US President Donald] Trump's Zionist deal (i.e., referring to Trump's as yet unpublished Middle East peace plan), and we are relating to this and emphasizing it because the Israeli decision to steal the Palestinian tax money today [Feb. 19, 2019] (referring to implementation of Israeli law to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money; see note below –Ed.) is nothing but an American decision basically, and President Mahmoud Abbas knows this, and he has taken this into account since he said no to this rotten deal… The American administration must understand once and for all that President Mahmoud Abbas will not be like Faust who made a pact with the devil after selling his soul to him, because the believing soul of President Mahmoud Abbas is the soul of Palestine, which is not for sale or to be bargained over… Palestine's money will go first to its sons, to the Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners. 'If we have only one penny left, it will go to these righteous people' – this is President Mahmoud Abbas' firm decision, from which he will not retreat in any way… The American-Israeli theft of Palestine's money is nothing but a delusion of the despicable racist arrogance, which has not and will not understand the truth of the defiance and resolve of the free Palestinians, which has now become an anthem following President Mahmoud Abbas' position – no to the deal of the century, Jerusalem is not for sale, and we will never concede on the bread of the families of our Martyrs and prisoners."
Law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money - Israeli law stating that the PA payments to terrorists and the families of dead terrorists is a financial incentive to terror. The law instructs the state to deduct and freeze the amount of money the PA pays in salaries to imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. Should the PA stop these payments for a full year, the Israeli government would have the option of giving all or part of the frozen money to the PA.
The law was enacted by the Israeli Parliament on July 2, 2018, and its first implementation was approved by Israel's Security Cabinet on Feb. 17, 2019, when it decided to withhold 502,697,000 Israeli shekels (approximately $138 million) from the PA. In response, the PA announced it would not receive any of the tax money collected by Israel unless it also included the frozen amount.
During the initial parliamentary vote in 2018, the law's sponsor Avi Dichter said: “The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee received much help in its deliberations... from Palestinian Media Watch who provided us with authentic data that enabled productive and professional deliberations, nuances that are very difficult to achieve without precise data.” [Israeli Parliament website, July 2, 2018]