PA daily editorial attacks Israeli cut to PA tax transfers; accuses Israelis of inciting to assassinate Abbas
Excerpt of editorial by the official PA daily
“The American-Israeli war against the Palestinian legitimacy, its leadership, and its national release project is growing stronger and escalating: The theft of the Palestinian tax money (referring to Israeli law to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money; see note below –Ed.) not just to tighten the financial siege on the PA, but also in order to harm the symbols of our souls, our national memory, and the history of our struggle – our Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners whose money Israel is stealing on the pretext of deducting their salaries (rawatib). There is also the ongoing criminal Zionist settler incitement against [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas in order to assassinate and eliminate him (apparently referring to the Derech Haim Movement’s campaign and the demonstrations it organized in Tel Aviv following the brutal murder of Ori Ansbacher; see notes below –Ed.).”
Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law - 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]
Campaign calling to assassinate PA Chairman Abbas - The Derech Haim Movement, led by right-wing Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, began a campaign calling for the assassination of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in December 2018. Their posters, which have been put up in the West Bank, show Abbas' face as if seen through a rifle sight. On the poster is written in red, with blood dripping from it: "A call to the government: Eliminate those who fund murder!" Under this is written: "The Palestinian Authority and its leader pay 12,000 Israeli shekels a month to murderers of Jews. The time has come to say: One who funds murder = murderer."
Under this text are the pictures of the five Fogel family terror victims who were murdered in their home in 2011, and whose imprisoned murderers are receiving salaries from the PA. At the bottom is Derech Haim’s logo.
Ori Ansbacher -19-year-old Israeli woman who was brutally attacked and stabbed to death by 29-year-old Palestinian terrorist Arafat Arfiah in Jerusalem on Feb. 7, 2019. Arfiah was apprehended on Feb. 8, 2019, and later confessed to the murder.
“The American-Israeli war against the Palestinian legitimacy, its leadership, and its national release project is growing stronger and escalating: The theft of the Palestinian tax money (referring to Israeli law to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money; see note below –Ed.) not just to tighten the financial siege on the PA, but also in order to harm the symbols of our souls, our national memory, and the history of our struggle – our Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners whose money Israel is stealing on the pretext of deducting their salaries (rawatib). There is also the ongoing criminal Zionist settler incitement against [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas in order to assassinate and eliminate him (apparently referring to the Derech Haim Movement’s campaign and the demonstrations it organized in Tel Aviv following the brutal murder of Ori Ansbacher; see notes below –Ed.).”
Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law - 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]
Campaign calling to assassinate PA Chairman Abbas - The Derech Haim Movement, led by right-wing Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, began a campaign calling for the assassination of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in December 2018. Their posters, which have been put up in the West Bank, show Abbas' face as if seen through a rifle sight. On the poster is written in red, with blood dripping from it: "A call to the government: Eliminate those who fund murder!" Under this is written: "The Palestinian Authority and its leader pay 12,000 Israeli shekels a month to murderers of Jews. The time has come to say: One who funds murder = murderer."
Under this text are the pictures of the five Fogel family terror victims who were murdered in their home in 2011, and whose imprisoned murderers are receiving salaries from the PA. At the bottom is Derech Haim’s logo.
Ori Ansbacher -19-year-old Israeli woman who was brutally attacked and stabbed to death by 29-year-old Palestinian terrorist Arafat Arfiah in Jerusalem on Feb. 7, 2019. Arfiah was apprehended on Feb. 8, 2019, and later confessed to the murder.