(Times of Israel) Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch - The PA and its leadership are responsible for their dire financial situation. Had the PA chosen to reject terrorism and abolish its "Pay for Slay" policy, then the financial crises could have been avoided. It is the PA that rejected all U.S. aid after the U.S. passed the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA). The Act provides that any state or body which receives U.S. aid inherently agrees to the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts to consider claims against those aid recipient states for terror involvement. ATCA was passed after the PA was found to be responsible for a number of terror acts and ordered to pay over $600 million in damages to the victims and their families. The PA is responsible for the four years of terror from 2000-2004 in which 1,200 Israelis were murdered, and ongoing terror since then. In addition, the Taylor Force Act made much of the U.S. aid to the PA conditional on it abolishing its policy of paying financial incentives and rewards to Palestinian terrorists and their families. If the PA has hundreds of millions of dollars a year to squander paying incentives and rewards to terrorists, it obviously does not need U.S. aid. The writer is the Head of Legal Strategies for Palestinian Media Watch. He served for 19 years in the IDF Military Advocate General Corps, including as Director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria.
2019-04-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive