Palestinians using foreign aid to fund anti-Israel terror, Hotovely says
The Palestinian Authority’s payment of stipends to the families of convicted terrorists should make the international community rethink its donation policies, according to Hotovely.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: JANUARY 26, 2016 00:19A masked Palestinian boy wearing the headband of Hamas's armed wing takes part in a rally marking the 28th anniversary of Hamas' founding in Gaza City(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Palestinians continue to utilize the foreign aid they receive in order to support terrorism, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Monday.The Palestinian Authority’s payment of stipends to the families of convicted terrorists should make the international community rethink its donation policies, according to Hotovely.“The Palestinian regime in Ramallah pays monthly stipends of between $400 and $3,500 to terrorists and their families, the latter of which is more than five times the average monthly salary of a Palestinian worker,” the deputy minister wrote.Hotovely wrote that the massive Palestinian aid dwarfs the amount of assistance given to countries with larger populations that are in far more dire need, like Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan and Somalia.“Between 1993 and 2013, the Palestinians received $21.7 billion in development assistance, according to the World Bank,” she wrote. “The Palestinian leadership has had ample opportunity to use these funds for economic and social development. Tragically, as seen in Hamas-run Gaza, it prefers to use the funds on its terrorist infrastructure and weaponry, such as cross-border attack tunnels and the thousands of missiles that have rained down in recent years on Israel.”Hotovely’s op-ed is part of a campaign she is spearheading to demand more supervision from the international donor community as to where the money it sends the PA is going.Hotovely also accused the Palestinians of inflating statistics on the number of refugees while keeping them destitute in order to exploit their decrepit state and thus bolster their propaganda war against Israel.“It is difficult to come away from these facts without realizing the deep connection between the huge amounts of foreign aid being spent, the bizarre international tolerance for patently unacceptable conduct by the Palestinians and the lack of progress toward peace on the ground,” Hotovely wrote.