Abbas spokesman: Terrorists are soldiers, acting on orders from PA

“[Spokesman for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah Central Committee member Nabil] Abu Rudeina spoke about the Palestinian Authority’s difficult financial situation due to [Israel’s] deduction of tax money because of the transfer of salaries to the families of terrorists and prisoners (refers to Israel’s Anti “Pay-for-Slay” Law to deduct terrorist salaries; see note below –Ed.), and said that ‘This is a red line and Israel needs to understand this. It is impossible to send a soldier to war and then not take care of his family. We are talking about someone who acts on our behalf and receives orders from us. This was accepted by Israel in the past – why act now?’”

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.