Abbas to Merkel: PA will “battle terror in our region and the world,” “condemned the use of violence against civilians”

Headline: "The [PA] president: The American administration is not helping to achieve peace and security in our region"

"[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas said that the American administration is not helping to achieve peace and security in our region. The president added in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday [Aug. 29, 2019] in Berlin that the American administration has put the matter of Jerusalem, the refugees, the borders, the settlement, and the security on the negotiation table, but has violated the international legitimacy and replaced it with steps that contradict the sources of authority that have been authorized by the entire international community…

The president noted that he will brief the German chancellor on the latest developments and obstacles that the Israeli occupation authority has put in place in order to eliminate the two-state solution. This is through continuing the settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories, changing the character and identity of East Jerusalem, besieging the Gaza Strip, violating all of the agreements that have been signed, and confiscating the Palestinian tax money (refers to the Israeli Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law to deduct terror salaries; see note below –Ed.) in violation of the Paris Agreement, which has brought us to a dead end that will lead to grave consequences.

The president emphasized that we will continue to act to build our national institutions according to the rule of law, and also act to spread the culture of peace and battle terror in our region and the world, regardless of its source.

He condemned the use of violence against civilians and emphasized that all of the monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – must be honored equally, and all forms of racism and discrimination must be rejected."

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.

Paris Agreement – agreement on economic relations between Israel and the PLO, signed in Paris on April 29, 1994. Its main goal is to promote peace by establishing economic relations modeled on EU economic relations.