PMW findings quoted in JNS op-ed on PA pay-for-slay
Palestinian ‘pay-for-slay’ policy will go on,
despite Israel’s new law
The Israeli security cabinet decided on Sunday to put into effect a law passed in July to deduct half a billion shekels (approximately $138.2 million) from the annual tax revenues it transfers to the Palestinian Authority each year. The purpose of the legislation—like its precursor, the Taylor Force Act, which was approved by the U.S. Congress in May—is to coerce the P.A. to cease rewarding terrorists with hefty “pay-for-slay” stipends.
[…]
According to a report on Monday by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), which first revealed the exorbitant sums that the P.A. spends annually on terrorist prisoners, released prisoners and families of dead terrorists, Abbas reiterated this message in October, declaring: “I say this to everyone—the salaries of our Martyrs, prisoners, and wounded are a red line. They [Israel] try by all means, and exert pressure by all means, and they continue to exert: ‘It cannot be that you will pay.’ And they’ll even deduct our money that’s in their hands. They’ll deduct from it the amount that we pay to the Martyrs. We have said that this is a red line and we will not allow [it]. From 1965 until now, this matter is sacred to us. The Martyrs and their families are sacred, [and so are] the wounded and the prisoners. We must pay all of them. If one penny remains in our hands it is for them and not for the living.”
Read the full article here: https://www.jns.org/opinion/palestinian-pay-for-slay-policy-will-go-on-despite-israels-new-law/