PA finance minister: PA may cut salaries to employees but salaries to terrorists and their families will be paid in full
Headline: “Bishara: The salaries will be paid on time, but possibly not in full”
“[PA] Minister of Finance Shukri Bishara announced that the [PA] government will pay the salaries of the public employees on time, but they are likely to be partial, other than the pension stipends and the allowances (mukhassasat) of the families of the Martyrs (Shahids), the wounded, and the prisoners, which will be paid in full. Bishara said this yesterday [Feb. 21, 2019] at a joint press conference with [PA] Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Al-Malki, following a meeting with consuls and representatives of European Union states in order to explain the consequences of the Israeli decision to deduct the government’s payments to the families of the prisoners, Martyrs, and wounded from the tax money (refers to implementation of law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money; see note below –Ed.), and he added: ‘There is an official decision that was made yesterday, Wednesday [Feb. 20, 2019], not to accept the tax money if even a single penny is missing from it.’
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He continued: ‘There are agreements and contracts, including plans to ease the suffering of these prisoners, families of the Martyrs, and wounded and to integrate them into society. This is known to the Israelis and others for more than 20 years, and the Israelis have not raised this in any meeting that was held between us, and we have explained this in detail to the representatives of the European Union, as well as what happened that Israel suddenly decided to deduct their allowances from the tax money.’
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Al-Malki said that the Palestinian leadership intends to turn to the relevant international courts in order to submit lawsuits against Israel for violating the international and bilateral laws and agreements following the cut in Palestinian tax money…
The [PA] Ministry of Foreign Affairs [and Expatriates] published an announcement in which it again emphasized its rejection of the Israeli decision to cut from the tax money… and said: ‘The decision to steal the Palestinian money constitutes a continuation of the shirking by the ruling extremist right-wing in Israel of all the agreements that were signed with the Palestinian side, and it is the last nail in the coffin of the Paris Agreement (see note below –Ed.). This colonialist decision comes at a time when the occupation state continues “to commemorate the memories” of the members of the Zionist militias who committed hundreds of massacres and crimes against our people from the start of the last century, and considers them “heroes for freedom who participated in establishing the state.” In addition, the occupation state is “perpetuating their memories” with a series of museums and emphasizing their criminal role in the schoolbooks, and also allocating huge sums to their families.’”
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Law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money - Israeli law stating that the PA payments to terrorists and the families of dead terrorists is a financial incentive to terror. The law instructs the state to deduct and freeze the amount of money the PA pays in salaries to imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. Should the PA stop these payments for a full year, the Israeli government would have the option of giving all or part of the frozen money to the PA.
The law was enacted by the Israeli Parliament on July 2, 2018, and its first implementation was approved by Israel's Security Cabinet on Feb. 17, 2019, when it decided to withhold 502,697,000 Israeli shekels (approximately $138 million) from the PA. In response, the PA announced it would not accept any of the tax money collected by Israel unless it also included the frozen amount.
During the initial parliamentary vote in 2018, the law's sponsor Avi Dichter said: “The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee received much help in its deliberations... from Palestinian Media Watch who provided us with authentic data that enabled productive and professional deliberations, nuances that are very difficult to achieve without precise data.” [Israeli Parliament website, July 2, 2018]
Paris Agreement – agreement on economic relations between Israel and the PLO, signed in Paris on April 29, 1994. Its main goal is to promote peace by establishing economic relations modeled on EU economic relations.
“[PA] Minister of Finance Shukri Bishara announced that the [PA] government will pay the salaries of the public employees on time, but they are likely to be partial, other than the pension stipends and the allowances (mukhassasat) of the families of the Martyrs (Shahids), the wounded, and the prisoners, which will be paid in full. Bishara said this yesterday [Feb. 21, 2019] at a joint press conference with [PA] Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Al-Malki, following a meeting with consuls and representatives of European Union states in order to explain the consequences of the Israeli decision to deduct the government’s payments to the families of the prisoners, Martyrs, and wounded from the tax money (refers to implementation of law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money; see note below –Ed.), and he added: ‘There is an official decision that was made yesterday, Wednesday [Feb. 20, 2019], not to accept the tax money if even a single penny is missing from it.’
…
He continued: ‘There are agreements and contracts, including plans to ease the suffering of these prisoners, families of the Martyrs, and wounded and to integrate them into society. This is known to the Israelis and others for more than 20 years, and the Israelis have not raised this in any meeting that was held between us, and we have explained this in detail to the representatives of the European Union, as well as what happened that Israel suddenly decided to deduct their allowances from the tax money.’
…
Al-Malki said that the Palestinian leadership intends to turn to the relevant international courts in order to submit lawsuits against Israel for violating the international and bilateral laws and agreements following the cut in Palestinian tax money…
The [PA] Ministry of Foreign Affairs [and Expatriates] published an announcement in which it again emphasized its rejection of the Israeli decision to cut from the tax money… and said: ‘The decision to steal the Palestinian money constitutes a continuation of the shirking by the ruling extremist right-wing in Israel of all the agreements that were signed with the Palestinian side, and it is the last nail in the coffin of the Paris Agreement (see note below –Ed.). This colonialist decision comes at a time when the occupation state continues “to commemorate the memories” of the members of the Zionist militias who committed hundreds of massacres and crimes against our people from the start of the last century, and considers them “heroes for freedom who participated in establishing the state.” In addition, the occupation state is “perpetuating their memories” with a series of museums and emphasizing their criminal role in the schoolbooks, and also allocating huge sums to their families.’”
Click to view bulletin
Law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money - Israeli law stating that the PA payments to terrorists and the families of dead terrorists is a financial incentive to terror. The law instructs the state to deduct and freeze the amount of money the PA pays in salaries to imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. Should the PA stop these payments for a full year, the Israeli government would have the option of giving all or part of the frozen money to the PA.
The law was enacted by the Israeli Parliament on July 2, 2018, and its first implementation was approved by Israel's Security Cabinet on Feb. 17, 2019, when it decided to withhold 502,697,000 Israeli shekels (approximately $138 million) from the PA. In response, the PA announced it would not accept any of the tax money collected by Israel unless it also included the frozen amount.
During the initial parliamentary vote in 2018, the law's sponsor Avi Dichter said: “The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee received much help in its deliberations... from Palestinian Media Watch who provided us with authentic data that enabled productive and professional deliberations, nuances that are very difficult to achieve without precise data.” [Israeli Parliament website, July 2, 2018]
Paris Agreement – agreement on economic relations between Israel and the PLO, signed in Paris on April 29, 1994. Its main goal is to promote peace by establishing economic relations modeled on EU economic relations.
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