France expresses "regret" over Israel anti-"pay-for-slay" law
Headline: "France expressed its regret over Israel's decision to freeze part of the Palestinian tax money"
"France expressed its regret over the Israeli government's decision to freeze part of the tax money (refers to implementation of law to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money; see note below –Ed.) that was meant to be transferred to the PA according to the Oslo Accords (which the PA has rejected and said that it will not accept partial tax money) [parentheses in source].
In a statement yesterday [Feb. 22, 2019], the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its concern in light of the deterioration of the PA’s financial situation and called to honor the obligations according to the Oslo Accords, including the Paris Protocol (i.e., Paris Agreement; see note below) that regulates the economic and financial relations between Israel and the PA. It also emphasized that 'In light of the current unrest, everyone must refrain from taking any step that might increase the difficulty in renewing the dialogue between the two sides.'"
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.
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.