Ex-Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold. Photo: Screenshot.

The Palestinian Authority’s practice of providing monetary payments to terrorists and their families is “unacceptable and contradicts all common sense,” a former top Israeli diplomatic official said on Monday, the Hebrew news site nrg reported.

Appearing at a special meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Dore Gold — a former Foreign Ministry director general and Israeli UN envoy — said the issue has come up in recent meetings between US President Donald Trump and PA President Mahmoud Abbas “because the Americans are not willing to forgive this thing.”

Referring to the Taylor Force Act — which was introduced in February by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado but has made no legislative progress since — Gold said, “We hear from officials in America that they’re not sure what Israel’s position is on it, so they don’t want to support [the bill]. Therefore, it’s very important that Israel’s position be clear.”

Gold noted that during his time at the Foreign Ministry, it published two reports, with the approval of the Prime Minister’s Office, that the Palestinian Authority must stop the terror payments. “That’s the official position,” he said.

Likud MK Avi Dichter — the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee — said, “It is inconceivable that the State of Israel will engage in a diplomatic campaign with the goal of reaching peace when we are faced with incitement from our supposed partner, and over the years it has not ebbed, but increased.”