PLO official justifies terror salaries with canteen payments saying that the "Americans and Europeans" wouldn't oppose terror salaries if they understood the math
Official PA TV program Topic of the Day
Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr: “Regarding the [prisoners’] salaries and the transfers of money [from Israel to the PA], a large part of the Europeans and Americans have become convinced by the Israeli position, but when meeting some of them we felt that there are things they did not know, and it may be that we changed their position. For example, they did not know that the salary of 60% or 50% of the prisoners does not exceed 1,000 euros (over $1,100 a month -Ed.), in other words, 3,500 [Israeli] shekels. We told them: The [prisoners’] families can transfer these 3,500 shekels to them, and the [PLO] Commission [of Prisoners’ Affairs] can support with 400 shekels, but we cannot transfer this to the families (apparently refers to 400 shekels in monthly canteen money for the prisoners -Ed.). In other words, whoever has a salary of 1,400 or 1,500 or 2,000 shekels, when the Commission gives it to his family, his family must [transfer] this amount [to the prisoner], and they receive this through the Commission of Prisoners’ [Affairs].
Where is the logic in them allowing the transfer of money to the prisoners, and it is forbidden to transfer to their families (apparently refers to Israel’s Anti “Pay-for-Slay” Law to deduct PA terror salaries; see note below -Ed.)?”
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.