Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that if the Palestinians truly desire peace with Israel, they must first “come clean” and stop “rewarding terrorism.”
In an interview on Fox News Channel, Netanyahu claimed the Palestinian Authority has spent much of the financial aid it receives from the United States paying terrorists and their families at the expense of the American taxpayer.
“I think the first test of peace is to say to them, ‘Hey, you want peace? Prove it. Confront terrorism, stop rewarding terrorism, stop paying terrorists,’” Netanyahu said via video link from his office in Jerusalem.
Many people don’t know this, but the families of Palestinians jailed for terrorist acts are compensated based on the jail term. The families of those killed during the commission of a terrorist act receive an annual stipend greater than the average Palestinian earns.
According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, the United States has given more than $5 billion in “bilateral economic and non-lethal security assistance” to the Palestinians. More than $327 million of that aid came in the last year, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, a public policy research arm of the U.S. Congress.
It’s not clear how much of that aid has been used for payments to terrorists. But according to the official daily newspaper of the Palestinian National Authority, Al-Hayat al-Jadida, since 2011 more than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners receive a monthly salary between $652 and $3,260.
The online Israeli news source Honest Reporting said this week that the Palestinian terrorist accused of killing British student Hannah Bladon last week will be paid about $1,000 per month by the Palestinian government. Putting this into perspective, as a reward, Bladon’s murderer will receive more than double the typical Palestinian full-time salary, every month for the rest of his life. Or until the world finally puts a stop to this terrible practice.
Honest Reporting further noted that the Palestinian Authority, despite international pressure, is planning to increase its budget for terrorist salaries. In 2016, it was as much as $180 million.
Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli research institute that monitors the Palestinian Authority, reports that the Authority cynically calls these terrorists “martyrs.”
Amazingly, the U.S. State Department has been hesitant to cut off aid to the Palestinians, regardless of its clear involvement in terrorism. Both the U.S. and Israeli governments fear such a move could lead to a collapse of the Authority, creating a security crisis in the West Bank.
After years of international condemnation of these payments, a new law before the U.S. Congress called the Taylor Force Act, would cut off all financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. Taylor Force was the U.S. Army officer murdered last year in Tel Aviv by a Palestinian attacker. Some legislators were outraged to learn that relatives of the dead terrorist will be rewarded with lifetime payments. Congress knows that terrorist families are benefitting directly or indirectly from American financial aid and hopes to stop it.
Similar legislation was proposed in the Israeli parliament last month. If passed, it would subtract from the tax revenues that Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority an amount equivalent to what the Authority pays terrorists and their families.
These developments are particularly relevant right now because a Palestinian delegation is scheduled to be in Washington next week to prepare for upcoming meetings between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and President Donald Trump. Let’s pray that a very frank discussion of salaries for Palestinian terrorists is on the agenda.
Let’s also pray that our Congress passes the Taylor Force Act and cancels financial aid to Palestinian terrorists. Even more importantly, please pray for Palestinian hearts and minds to change about terrorist acts. Without this, legislative efforts will amount to little and mean nothing as far as real effectiveness. Pray with us for ultimate transformation through Palestinians coming to faith in Yeshua (Jesus).
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