Abbas on terrorists: Our Martyrs and prisoners are the most sanctified

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "We will not agree that they [Israel] consider our Martyrs terrorists – our Martyrs, the homeland's Martyrs! And we will not agree that they deduct one penny from their money. All of their money will return to them – because for us the Martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners are the most sanctified.”

[Facebook page of the PA Presidential Office, Aug. 10, 2019; Official PA TV News, Aug. 11, 2019]

Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law - 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. During the parliamentary vote, 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] In accordance with the law, as of September 2021 Israel’s Security Cabinet had ordered the freeze of 1.857 billion shekels ($580.15 million) - the sum equivalent to the PA payments to terrorists in 2018, 2019, and 2020.