Hamas calls Abbas' meeting with Israeli Defence Minister "a knife in the back of our people," but PA daily defends the meeting
Excerpt of an editorial by the official PA daily
Headline: “The policy of achievements, the policy of resistance”
“We will always view Hamas’ discourse in the media as a discourse disconnected from reality and devoid of true knowledge… An example of this is the statement of Hamas Spokesman Abd Al-Latif Al-Qanu’a, who said that [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas’ meeting with Israeli Minister [of Defense] Benny Gantz is ‘a knife in the back of our people and its sacrifices’!
Perhaps the 5,000 families that will unite will respond to this spokesman… as they know that this achievement, for which they have waited a long time, is one of the results of the president’s meeting with the Israeli minister. This achievement will make the lives of more than 40,000 Palestinian civilians more stable, secure, and firm in their land. This is what will eventually advance the campaign of our people’s struggle, so that it will continue on the path to redemption from the occupation and achieving full freedom and independence.
Five thousand families will unite, and this is not the only achievement stemming from President Abbas’ meeting with Israeli Minister Benny Gantz; there is a series of agreements that were achieved, including an agreement on activating 4G [cellular network] services… and also an agreement on returning part of our money that is being held by Israel (refers to Israel’s Anti “Pay-for-Slay” Law to deduct PA terror salaries; see note below -Ed.), an agreement on amending several clauses of the economic Paris Agreement (see note below -Ed.) for the benefit of the Palestinian merchants and civilians, and an agreement on Palestinian construction in Area C (i.e., land under full Israeli administration according to the Oslo Accords).
All of these agreements are the result of President Abbas’ meeting with Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, and this means that the interest of the homeland and the Palestinian civilians is what stood before the president.”
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.