Undeterred by its faltering economy, the global coronavirus pandemic, and growing international criticism, the Palestinian Authority continued to generously pay stipends for terrorists throughout 2020.
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The Palestinians routinely spend hundreds of millions of dollars on payments to terrorists imprisoned in Israel and to the families of terrorists killed while carrying out attacks against Israel. This policy, dubbed "pay-for-slay," has earned it scathing international criticism, but Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has vowed to keep up terrorists' payments, even it if bankrupts the PA.
A recent report by Palestinian Media Watch, a watchdog group that documents cases of incitement in Palestinian media, revealed that in 2020, the PA allocated 512 million shekels ($156 million), or 3.25% of its budget to its "pay-so-slay" program, the same as in 2019.
"This year, too, the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet is procrastinating on implementing the law on terrorists' salaries," said Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, MPW's legal expert, told Israel Hayom, referring to a law by which the government is supposed to withhold from the PA a similar amount of the taxes it collects on Ramallah's behalf.
"It's time to put an end to terrorist payments," Hirsch exclaimed.
PMW Director Itamar Marcus, said, "The fact that international donors are willing to give the PA hundreds of millions of euros a year, while it continues to incentivize and fund murderers, is a key factor in why Palestinian terrorism continues to thrive."
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