PLO official falsely accuses Israel of paying salaries to Jewish terrorists, as opposed to the PA that pays salaries to imprisoned Palestinian terrorists, who are "freedom prisoners and legitimate fighters"
Headline: "Karake: What Israel pays to criminals and criminal prisoners exceeds what is paid to the occupation's victims"
“Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake said that the Israeli occupation government allots a large budget to aiding criminal prisoners that committed crimes of murder and assault against the Palestinian people and to their families, and to fund Jewish terror societies and organizations and organizations of extremist settlers, and officially supports terror and even creates it…
Karake rejected the comparison between the Palestinian prisoners - who are freedom prisoners and legitimate fighters who struggled for the right of self-determination, according to that which is anchored in UN resolutions and international law – and the Jewish terrorist prisoners.
He said that the occupation government has related to the Jewish terrorist prisoners, who were convicted in Israeli courts of acts of terror and aggression against Palestinians, with full forgiveness. Moreover, it has supported them, encouraged them, given them full financial, legal, and social aid, related to them as national heroes and symbols, and published decisions to ease their sentences and pardon them.
Karake added that the Jewish members of the underground, who were convicted in 1984 of blowing up homes and cars of Palestinian governors, an attempt to blow up the Dome of the Rock, the murder of three students at Hebron University, and the blowing up of 19 buses in the town of Halhoul, north of Hebron, and in Bethlehem (sic., PMW could find no evidence of 19 buses being blown up by them), are receiving high salaries from the occupation government (sic., members of the group do not receive any government salaries). This is after their sentence was reduced from life to five years and they were released. Three of them also work in the prime minister's office (sic., PMW could find no evidence that any members of this organization work in the prime minister’s office).
Karake noted that the life sentence of Jewish criminal Yoram Skolnik, who murdered a blindfolded and bound Arab worker (the Arab worker had just carried out a terror attack -Ed.), was reduced to 10 years, and afterwards he was released after seven years. Today he receives a monthly salary from [Israeli] Social Security (sic., any monies received from Social Security would be some type of welfare, not a salary for what he did –Ed.) and also received government aid for opening a business, and there are many like him. Karake said that the total of social benefits to families in Israel is 36 times those paid to Palestinian families according the Central Bureau of Statistics in Palestine. He also said that what has been allotted to the families of the Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners is approximately 8% of the total [PA] government expenditures for 2016, and accused the State of Israel of creating social and humanitarian crises in the Palestinian society."
Palestinian claim that Israel pays Israeli prisoners:Contrary to the Palestinian claims, Israel does not make any payments to Israeli prisoners. Israel’s Social Security Law states specifically that, notwithstanding any entitlement, benefits due to a person held in prison will not be paid. In some cases, even child benefits that are paid to the parents of a minor are stopped, if that minor is convicted and sentenced to a prison sentence. Similarly, a person who is entitled to an Insured Income from the State loses that entitlement for any time he is held in prison following a criminal conviction. Furthermore, accepting the Palestinian claim that Israel makes payments to Israeli prisoners would lead to the untenable conclusion that Israel pays a salary even to Israeli Arab prisoners who carried out terrorist attacks against other Israeli citizens.
“Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake said that the Israeli occupation government allots a large budget to aiding criminal prisoners that committed crimes of murder and assault against the Palestinian people and to their families, and to fund Jewish terror societies and organizations and organizations of extremist settlers, and officially supports terror and even creates it…
Karake rejected the comparison between the Palestinian prisoners - who are freedom prisoners and legitimate fighters who struggled for the right of self-determination, according to that which is anchored in UN resolutions and international law – and the Jewish terrorist prisoners.
He said that the occupation government has related to the Jewish terrorist prisoners, who were convicted in Israeli courts of acts of terror and aggression against Palestinians, with full forgiveness. Moreover, it has supported them, encouraged them, given them full financial, legal, and social aid, related to them as national heroes and symbols, and published decisions to ease their sentences and pardon them.
Karake added that the Jewish members of the underground, who were convicted in 1984 of blowing up homes and cars of Palestinian governors, an attempt to blow up the Dome of the Rock, the murder of three students at Hebron University, and the blowing up of 19 buses in the town of Halhoul, north of Hebron, and in Bethlehem (sic., PMW could find no evidence of 19 buses being blown up by them), are receiving high salaries from the occupation government (sic., members of the group do not receive any government salaries). This is after their sentence was reduced from life to five years and they were released. Three of them also work in the prime minister's office (sic., PMW could find no evidence that any members of this organization work in the prime minister’s office).
Karake noted that the life sentence of Jewish criminal Yoram Skolnik, who murdered a blindfolded and bound Arab worker (the Arab worker had just carried out a terror attack -Ed.), was reduced to 10 years, and afterwards he was released after seven years. Today he receives a monthly salary from [Israeli] Social Security (sic., any monies received from Social Security would be some type of welfare, not a salary for what he did –Ed.) and also received government aid for opening a business, and there are many like him. Karake said that the total of social benefits to families in Israel is 36 times those paid to Palestinian families according the Central Bureau of Statistics in Palestine. He also said that what has been allotted to the families of the Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners is approximately 8% of the total [PA] government expenditures for 2016, and accused the State of Israel of creating social and humanitarian crises in the Palestinian society."
Palestinian claim that Israel pays Israeli prisoners:Contrary to the Palestinian claims, Israel does not make any payments to Israeli prisoners. Israel’s Social Security Law states specifically that, notwithstanding any entitlement, benefits due to a person held in prison will not be paid. In some cases, even child benefits that are paid to the parents of a minor are stopped, if that minor is convicted and sentenced to a prison sentence. Similarly, a person who is entitled to an Insured Income from the State loses that entitlement for any time he is held in prison following a criminal conviction. Furthermore, accepting the Palestinian claim that Israel makes payments to Israeli prisoners would lead to the untenable conclusion that Israel pays a salary even to Israeli Arab prisoners who carried out terrorist attacks against other Israeli citizens.