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Palestinian Authority Must Stop Rewarding Acts of Terrorism

(Jerusalem Post) Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin and Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Moshe Ya'alon - A Palestinian Authority ministry provides monthly cash transfers ("salaries") to convicted terrorists that positively correlate with the length of sentence (and, hence, severity of the attack on Israel). In 2004, the PA policy of sponsoring convicted terrorists was enshrined in law, and by 2010 the yearly salary for those serving 30-year sentences was nearly 20 times the average per capita income in the West Bank, and the ministry's budget surpassed $100 million. In terms of simple economics, the PA's rewards for prisoners create financial incentives for impoverished Palestinians to take up arms. This complements other PA policies that endow with honor those who commit acts of terrorism by naming public spaces after them, extolling their virtues in public speeches, describing those who are killed while carrying out attacks as martyrs in PA-controlled media, and providing stipends for their relatives. The PA also pays those with Israeli citizenship a premium for acts of terrorism - tantamount to sponsoring an insurrection inside of Israel. The PA offers preference for government jobs to those who have killed or tried to kill Israelis. Stacking the government with individuals who see violence as a solution to the conflict will likely steer PA government policy away from moderation and compromise. Israel has a moral imperative to do everything in its power to bring an end to the PA policy of financially incentivizing the murder of Israelis. Amos Yadlin, former chief of Israeli military intelligence, heads Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies. Moshe Ya'alon is a former Israeli defense minister and IDF chief of staff.
2017-03-06 00:00:00
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