Bennett freezes additional NIS 150 million in pay-for-slay funds
Amount designated for Palestinian terrorists and families will be frozen following Security Cabinet discussion
By LAHAV HARKOVDefense Minister Naftali Bennett attends a cabinet meeting, December 2019.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The security cabinet is set to move toward deducting more of the funds the PA pays terrorists and their families from the taxes and tariffs Israel collects for it.Defense Minister Naftali Bennett will bring the proposal on Sunday to freeze NIS 650 million. The amount includes an addition of NIS 149m. that specifically goes to the families of terrorists who were killed or injured during acts of terrorism against Israelis.Prior to Bennett’s addition, the government has only deducted funds that were sent to living terrorists, including those in prison and those who were released, as well as to their families.The Deduction Law requires the defense minister to present the security cabinet with information on how much the Palestinian Authority paid terrorists and their families each year. Then, the Finance Ministry must deduct those funds from the taxes and tariffs Israel collects for the PA on a monthly basis, based on the amount the PA paid terrorists the previous year, divided by 12.The law was proposed by Deputy Defense Minister Avi Dichter (Likud) and MK Elazar Stern, now of Blue and White, and passed in July 2018, making this the second time the government is deducting funds from the PA over its pay-for-slay policy.The Palestinian Authority pays terrorists more depending on their prison sentence, meaning that the greater the severity of the crime – the more Israelis killed and wounded – the more they receive each month. PA President Mahmoud Abbas has maintained the policy despite Israel’s deductions, as well as the US cutting aid to the PA over it.Last week, Bennett signed an order freezing funds transferred from the PA to eight terrorists with Israeli citizenship, adding up to hundreds of thousands of shekels each year. Five of the eight carry life sentences.
