Mahmoud Abbas received much praise for sending teams of Palestinian firefighters to help their Israeli counterparts put out the wave of fires sweeping through Israel. But, as Itamar Marcus points out, this gesture means little if the PA rewards the terrorists who started the fires in the first place:
According to Palestinian law, . . . anyone imprisoned [by Israel] for “resisting the occupation” receives a high monthly salary. Therefore, all of those convicted and imprisoned for arson will receive PA salaries “from the day of arrest until the day of release.” . . . Today there are approximately 7,000 Palestinian prisoners on the PA payroll. The PA rewards them every month for terrorism, and this generous arrangement will cost the PA NIS 488 million in 2016 alone, according to the PA’s publicized budget.
If Abbas was ever serious about stopping the PA’s ongoing support for terrorism, he now has the perfect opportunity to make a difference. Instead of merely enjoying complimentary headlines and nice photo-ops of Palestinian firemen with Israelis, Abbas should decree that the arsonists will not receive PA salaries. . . . Should Abbas insist on adding the imprisoned arsonists to the PA payroll, his hypocrisy in sending a few fire engines to Israel will be exposed to the world.
Should Abbas decide to deny salaries to the arsonists, this may indicate the beginning of a fundamental change in the PA attitude toward terrorism. However, if Abbas cancels salaries only to the arsonists, it will not be enough. If he says to the world that the PA will not pay salaries to those who burned trees, rocks, and homes while it continues to pay salaries to murderers of men, women and children, his values and behavior, which cause many to see him as a terrorist leader, will remain unchanged. . . . Right now while he has the world’s attention, having made this small gesture in the direction of peace, let him take a serious step.
More about: Israel & Zionism, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian terror