The Knesset plenum on Wednesday approved in a preliminary vote the bill for offsetting funds to the Palestinian Authority for its support of terrorism, 5767-2017, submitted by MK Elazer Stern (Yesh Atid) and endorsed by several Knesset Members.
The bill proposes that the Defense Minister publish an annual report summarizing the annual financial support for security prisoners and terrorist families provided by the Palestinian Authority and the PLO, and a sum equal to that set out in the report will be deducted from the total funds transferred from the State of Israel to the Palestinian Authority in the following year.
MK Elazar Stern said that “in 2016 the PA transferred $300 million to terrorists either through their families, directly from the PA, or through the PLO. These are not welfare assistance payments, it is money that is transferred to the terrorists, precisely because they killed and injured innocent people.”
“The amount of money received by the terrorist increases as the attack becomes more serious,” Stern noted. “The message of the Palestinian Authority encourages terror attacks. This has also come out of testimonies by terrorists who said they attacked repeatedly to reach the minimum of five years in prison, which guarantees a fixed salary.”
“This law is intended to promote peace,” MK Stern stated.
In response to an objection from MK Osama Sa’adi (Joint Arab List) Arab List) that the law reneges on agreements signed between Israel and the PA, to transfer to the latter customs and taxes collected on its behalf by the former, Stern argued that those agreements also obligate both sides to act to prevent terrorism.
Stern insisted that Western countries will support his proposed law, citing the fact that Norway and Sweden have recently stopped funding organizations that support terrorism.
48 Knesset members voted in favor of the bill, 13 against. The bill will now be submitted to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for preparation for its first reading.