US and Israeli leaders respond to PMW report on PA 2018 budget calling to cut funding to PA
US and Israel leaders respond
to PMW report on PA 2018 budget
calling to cut funding to PA
l
By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Yesterday, Palestinian Media Watch reported that the Palestinian Authority will continue to pay salaries to imprisoned and released terrorists and allowances to families of dead terrorist "Martyrs," according to the PA's new budget for 2018.
US and Israeli leaders have responded to PMW's report with calls to cut funding to the PA.
On March 23, 2018 the US passed the Taylor Force Act - a law named after US citizen Taylor Force who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in Tel Aviv on March 8, 2016, which calls to cut almost all funding to the PA if it continues payments to terrorists and their families.
PMW's report highlights that the PA in defiance of the US is continuing to reward terror and will now lose its American funding.
The following are some of the immediate responses by legislators and government leaders to PMW's report:US Senator Charles Schumer:
"[The PA's terror payments budget] is exactly why we passed the Taylor Force Act. Now the Palestinian Authority will face additional financial consequences for its abhorrent policy."
[Algemeiner, March 28, 2018]
US Congressman Doug Lamborn:
"It seems like the Palestinian Authority did not receive the message we tried to send by passing this law, so now we have to ensure that the US will slash its funding to it."
[Algemeiner, March 28, 2018]
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman:
"Mahmoud Abbas the terror supporter has removed the mask and taken the gloves off. We will act for a quick decision on deducting the salary money that Mahmoud Abbas is transferring to terrorists and we will stop this absurdity."
[Official Twitter account of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman,
March 28, 2018]
March 28, 2018]
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon:
"He's not even bothering to cover his tracks. Mahmoud Abbas has decided that he will resume directly funding terrorists' salaries & his representative to the @UN called the US Taylor Force Act 'blackmail.' The international community must join the US & pledge to end 'pay to slay'"
[Official Twitter account of Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon,
March 28, 2018]
March 28, 2018]
"The PA's budget demonstrated that President Mahmoud Abbas had 'revealed his true intentions as he directly funds hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists with blood on their hands.
Once again, the Palestinians have responded to American initiatives aimed at reconciliation with support for terror and violence. We call on the international community, and the United Nations, to join the US in their pledge to put an end to the funding of Palestinian terror.'"
[Algemeiner, March 28, 2018]
Israeli member of Parliament Oded Forer:
"That the Palestinian Authority brazenly and openly boasts of its payments to terrorists as the Taylor Force Act was being passed into law is Mahmoud Abbas' official response to it and is a slap in the face to the U.S.... This cannot go unanswered and amply demonstrates the necessity of the Taylor Force Act and a similar law we will pass in the Knesset. The outrageous and shameless commitment to murder and the funding apparatus surrounding it are signs that the Palestinian Authority leadership feels immune from international reproach for its bloody policies, and this must stop immediately."
[Jewish Press, March 28, 2018]
Additional News Coverage of PMW report:
"Just days after the United States Congress passed the bipartisan Taylor Force Act into law, the Palestinian Authority published its 2018 budget, which includes $355 million allocated to payment of terrorists and their families, Palestinian Media Watch reported Wednesday."
"Palestinian Media Watch's report on the new Palestinian Authority budget shows that over 7% or $355 million will go to the same old, 'Pay to Slay' program. The PLO government doesn't just incite violence against Israelis and Americans. It financially subsidized it using American taxpayer money."
"Palestinian Media Watch reports that the PA just released its operations budget for 2018, a significant portion of which is dedicated to the 'martyr fund' for Palestinian terrorists and their families.
The Palestinian watchdog found that 7.47 percent of the Palestinian Authority budget, or $355 million, will go to the fund in 2018. 'In open defiance of the US, other donor countries, and Israel, the PA's new budget shows it is continuing to reward terror,' Palestinian Media Watch reports."
"Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), citing PA budget documents, said in a report that $158 million was set aside in the 2018 budget for payments to Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
$197 million was allocated for families of those who were killed or wounded by Israeli forces, including while carrying out acts of terror, the NGO said.
While for the past few years the payments have been made through the prisoners' committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the budget documents reveal that they are now being made directly from the Western-backed PA, which has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-controlled West Bank."
JNS:
"According to Palestinian Media Watch, the P.A. budget for the Commission of Prisoner Affairs, which pays the salaries of terrorist prisoners and released prisoners, is set at $166 million, of which $158 million will go to terrorists."
Ynet:
"The total sum of the payment scheme was published in the PA budget reports for 2018, and exposed byPalestinian Media Watch. According to the report, the PA will earmark NIS 550 million as stipends for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, as well as NIS 687 million for the families of terrorists who were killed while carrying out terror attacks or in attempted attacks against Israel."
"An examination of the PA's 2018 budget conducted by
Palestinian Media Watch - an Israeli research and advocacy organization - noted on Tuesday that almost half of the PA's anticipated foreign aid budget of $775 million is being spent on the terror payments.
'In open defiance of the US, other donor countries, and Israel, the PA's new budget shows it is continuing to reward terror,' the report argued.
The report highlighted that 'for the first time since 2014, the PA has stopped attempting to hide that it is the PA that pays salaries to all the terrorist prisoners.'"
"After studying the recent PA budget, Director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) Itamar Marcus and Palestinian Media Watch's Head of Legal Strategies Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch brought it to the attention of Knesset Israel Victory Caucus (KIVC) Chair MK Oded Forer to collaborate with his counterparts in the Congressional Israel Victory Caucus (CIVC), especially Rep. Doug Lamborn, who introduced the Taylor Force Act, to bring this to the attention of the American authorities that can trigger the clauses in the law."
"Despite the American condemnation of the Palestinian Authority's rewards program for terrorists, the Ramallah-based government plans to continue its support for murderers and their families in 2018 with $355 million, according to thePalestinian Media Watch.
According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) research, 7.47 percent of the PA's total operational budget will be allotted to paying terrorists and their families. This part of the budget equals almost half of the foreign aid funding that the PA hopes to receive this year."
"The Palestinian Authority has authorized payments of $355 million to convicted terrorists and the families of terrorists as part of their 2018, according to a report.
According to Palestinian Media Watch, the P.A. budget for the Commission of Prisoner Affairs, which pays the salaries of terrorist prisoners and released prisoners, is set at $166 million, of which $158 million will go to terrorists."