Abbas repeats terrorists are “most sacred,” won’t deny them salaries

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting with foreign journalists: "How can I accept this [Israeli deduction of our tax money] when it harms my right and harms people who have affected our lives: The Martyrs, who are our most sacred thing; the wounded, who are our most sacred thing; and the prisoners, who are our most sacred thing. I can’t deny them salaries just because Israel wants to call them 'terrorists.' That is something that no one would accept, and we will not accept it under any circumstances."

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. During the parliamentary vote, 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] In accordance with the law, as of September 2021 Israel’s Security Cabinet had ordered the freeze of 1.857 billion shekels ($580.15 million) - the sum equivalent to the PA payments to terrorists in 2018, 2019, and 2020.