Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Defying US and Israel, Palestinian Authority Pays Out $150 Million in Terrorist Salaries in 2019
Error: Contact form not found.
by Algemeiner Staff
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Feb. 6, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Mohamad Torokman.
Recently-published accounts reveal that the Palestinian Authority (PA) spent almost $150 million in 2019 on salaries and other benefits for convicted terrorists and their families.
According to the Israeli NGO Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), “the PA has admitted to spending no less than 517.4 million shekels ($149.7 million/€136 million) paying salaries to terrorist prisoners and released prisoners in 2019.”
The NGO pointed out that “Israeli law demands that this figure be deducted from the monthly tax transfers Israel makes to the PA.”
Legislation passed by the US Congress in 2018 suspended American aid to the PA for as long as the policy of paying benefits to terrorists and their relatives — dubbed by critics as “pay to slay” — remained in force. A similar law was passed later the same year by Israel’s Knesset.
After the Israeli law was passed, PMW observed, PA President Mahmoud Abbas “positively decided to plunge the PA into a self-inflicted financial crisis by refusing to accept all the tax revenues from Israel, if Israel deducted any sum.”
Concluded PMW: “Since the tax revenues account for almost half of the PA budget, rejecting their receipt had a substantial impact on the PA economy.”
