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PA Payments to Terrorists Are an Open Scandal
(Tablet) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser - When Palestinian terrorists are released from jail, they get a grant and are promised a job at the Palestinian Authority. They also receive a military rank that's determined according to the number of years they've served in jail. Over 20% of the annual foreign financial aid that the PA receives is now dedicated to the salaries of former and currently imprisoned terrorists, and to the families of those who died in their "struggle against Zionism." These salaries are much higher than the average salary in the Palestinian Authority. The PA has paid out $1.12 billion over the past four years. Official PA support of terror occurs on the basis of PA laws passed since 2004 which mandate payments to prisoners of war who are entitled to "heroic treatment and recognition." Palestinian payments to terrorists and the families of terrorists who died carrying out terror attacks stand in complete contravention to the Oslo Accords and to international law. They are not social welfare payments to families but rewards for terrorism and incentives to commit future terror attacks. These payments are an open scandal. Israel and the international community must condition any further financial assistance to the PA on the immediate cessation of this terror payment policy. The writer was formerly Director General of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs and head of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence. This is based on his remarks to the Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on May 29, 2017.