President Trump rebuked PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority at their joint statement in Bethlehem on Tuesday morning.
During his talk, Abbas talked about easing the conditions for the PA’s terrorists being held in Israeli jails, some of whom are currently holding hunger strikes so they can get more cable TV channels and earn college degrees. Many of these jailed terrorists are mass murderers.
Abbas repeatedly called for a 2-state solution.
President Trump began his speech sending his condolences to the people of Manchester following the horrific terror attack last night.
Using strong language, Trump repeatedly called the Manchester perpetrators “evil losers”. He said they aren’t even monsters, which they want to be called, just “losers.”
Trump said the terrorists must be driven out from our society and their ideology obliterated.
Trump expressed his commitment and desire to reach a peace agreement, at which point he clearly rebuked Abbas and the PA.
The President said that “Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded and even rewarded,” in an undisguised criticism of the Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas.
Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded and even rewarded.
It is estimated that the PA pays out hundreds of millions of dollars every year to terrorists.
The payout program works on a sliding scale. The more Jews the terrorists killed, the more money the terrorists and their families receive from the PA.
Oded Revivi, chief foreign envoy of the Yesha Council, and Mayor of Efrat, which is situated right next door to Bethlehem said, “The president didn’t mention two-states in his Bethlehem statements, just peace. We hope this means that we have moved on from this failed policy and will now work together to build true and lasting peace from the ground-up.”
At no point did Trump mention a Palestinian State either.
During the visit to Bethlehem, a PA citizen stabbed an Israeli policeman in Netanya, in a terror attack. It will be interesting to learn how much money the PA will be paying out to this latest terrorist.