PA TV repeats Abbas’ vow to pay terrorists no matter what – even “if we are left with only one penny”

Official PA TV reporter: “Throughout the path of the struggle against the occupation, the leadership has shown great interest in the wounded and the families of the Martyrs. This became clear recently in His Honor [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas’ defiance of Israel’s attempts to deduct the salaries of the Martyrs and wounded from the tax money as collective punishment to starve their families” …

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “Since the Martyrs are the most sacred among us, and since the wounded are the most sacred among us , and since the prisoners are the most sacred among us, we cannot abandon them and their families. If we are left with only one penny, we will give it to their families.”

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.