Ramallah's perverse terror payments mechanism is being employed in Israel on a wide scale: The Palestinian Authority pays out stipends worth thousands of shekels to hundreds of relatives of Israeli citizens involved in terrorist operations. According to an investigation conducted by the defense establishment at the request of Israel Hayom, the Israeli citizens receiving the benefits are either serving prison terms for conducting terrorist operations, assisting such operations, or acting against Israel in other ways. In the event that the terrorists were eliminated while conducting terrorist operations, the payments are transferred to their relatives.
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Payments range from 1,400 shekels ($436) to 12,000 shekels ($3,742) depending on the type of operation, the number of people murdered in the operation, and the length of the sentence handed down to the terrorist perpetrator. Beyond the stipend itself, there are other benefits that the prisoner and his family receive. We should note here that according to Palestinian Authority law anyone who has murdered a Jew − or the perpetrator's family − will receive a salary for life.
Payments are made according to a set tariff published by the Palestinian Authority for terrorists resident in Judea and Samaria. Under PA law, the payments continue even after the terrorist has released been released from jail. The defense establishment has confirmed that the Palestinian Authority pays these terror stipends to all terrorists, without any connection to organizational affiliation. In other words, the Palestinian Authority, which is controlled by the PLO, also makes payments to terrorists who are members of Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The defense establishment is aware that receipt of an economic stipend for terrorist activities from a foreign entity is problematic from a legal standing and constitutes a catalyst for terrorist operations. However, the law also provides economic privacy for Israeli citizens, and therefore the Shin Bet security agency and other defense organizations rely on intelligence tools to find out who the Israelis are who benefit from terrorist stipends from the Palestinians.
"Unfortunately, we cannot provide a precise figure for the number of Israeli citizens and residents who receive payments from the Palestinian Authority," the Defense Ministry said.
A security source told Israel Hayom that quiet operations are ongoing to seize funds and that the sums are deducted from tax payments collected for and transferred to the Palestinian Authority.
A PLO trick
In recent years, the Palestinian Authority has come under heavy pressure from the international community to stop paying salaries to terrorists. With bipartisan support, the United States Congress passed the Taylor Force Act that prohibits economic support for the Palestinian Authority as long as it continues to pay stipends to terrorists and their families.
In response, the Palestinians have tried several tricks in order to continue making the payments in a roundabout way. They moved the payment system from the Palestinian Authority to the PLO and also tried giving jobs in the PA to relatives of terrorists. The Palestinians also tried claiming that the stipends are elementary social security payments − a claim that does not sit with the fact that when an Israeli citizen or his relatives has committed an act of terrorism, they continue to receive payments from Israel's National Insurance.
Meanwhile, government sources told Israel Hayom that PA President Mahmoud Abbas recently promised the United States that families of terrorists who perpetrated attacks in the recent wave of terror will not receive terror stipends. A spokesperson for the US Embassy said: "We do not comment on statements made in private conversations."
In another development, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said yesterday that the government is not using all the tools at its disposal, including deducting funds transferred to the PA.
Speaking at the College of Management, Englman said: "There is a simple and effective tool that the State of Israel is not employing in the battle against terrorism: Filing civil suits against terrorists, be they residents of Israel or Palestinians...In such a case this can be done by deducting from funds transferred to the Palestinian Authority."
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