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US Tax Dollars Fund Terrorists
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
On March 8, 2016, Taylor Force, a 28-year-old West Point graduate and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, was visiting Israel with members of his graduate class from Vanderbilt University when a Palestinian terrorist attacked civilians in Jaffa with a knife. Force was killed, and 10 others, including a pregnant woman, were wounded. The next day, the terrorist who killed Force, Bashar Masalha, was praised as a “hero and martyr” by the Fatah party (which is overseen by Mahmoud Abbas). He was given a hero’s funeral and thousands attended.
The Palestinian Authority passed a law in 2004, Law Number 14, Articles 1 and 2 that provides Masalha’s family with a pension for life, amounting to three times the average yearly salary in the West Bank.
The Palestinian government makes absolutely no attempt to hide its rewards for terrorism. In the Amended Palestinian Prisoners Law 19 of 2013, the payments were actually enhanced for a terrorist who commits a violent act and is jailed. Under this law, the longer the sentence (i.e., the greater the violence), the higher the salary that a terrorist receives. Article 4 offers free tuition to the children of those jailed. In Article 6, there is even a clothing allowance and monthly stipend linked to the cost-of-living index. Health insurance is included in Article 4, section 12. Article 5 provides the ultimate bonus: a lifetime pension for a prison term of five years (or only two years in the case of a female terrorist).
The PA allocates $315 million, nearly 8 percent of its budget, to pay terrorists in prison and the families of the “martyrs.”
In February, Senator Lindsey Graham reintroduced the Taylor Force Act that would end the sending of funds to the Palestinian Authority for its support of terror. If passed, the US Secretary of State would be required to certify that the PA is taking credible steps to stop acts of violence against the US and Israeli citizens; the PA would publicly condemn violence and assist in bringing the perpetrators to justice; and it would stop paying terrorists and their families who commit these acts. The bill is sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Tom Cotton (R-AR); Congressmen Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY); and cosponsored by Senators Tim Scott (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), John Boozman (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Richard Burr (R-NC), and John Thune (R-SD).
But the Taylor Force Act may not be as helpful as it appears. The use of US tax dollars to fund terrorism is only a portion of the PA’s economic corruption. As Caroline Glick says in her book, The One State Solution:
Foreign donor governments, who pay for more than a third of the Palestinian Authority’s operating budget, have repeatedly requested that the Palestinian Authority take serious steps to remedy the situation. But it has not done so. As the continued repression of freedom of the press since Arafat’s death makes clear, the Palestinian Authority doesn’t investigate allegations of corruption and authoritarianism to redress them—rather, it hides them by silencing its critics.
In addition, some of the funds we are sending to the PA are actually helping Israel to fight terrorism:
The reason that nobody has yet brought up eliminating American security assistance to the PA – although it is important to note that the preliminary budget for FY 2017 cuts it from $70 million to $35 million – is that the most overlooked fact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past decade has been the remarkable record of the PASF [Palestinian Authority Security Forces] in helping keep Israelis safe. Ask any Israeli security official, and they will tell you that coordination with the PASF is one of the primary reasons that terrorist attacks on Israelis now consist of lone-wolf stabbings and shootings rather than mass suicide bombings, and why there are rockets from Gaza but zero from the West Bank. Despite the rhetoric of Israeli politicians about the PA being barely a step removed from terrorism, the PA has become Israel’s most important security partner on the ground.
So if the Taylor Force Act is implemented, others will likely continue to support the Palestinian Authority; those funds could continue to support rewarding terrorists. Even if the PA complies with the Act’s demands, it will be difficult to track whether they continue to honor its requirements. At least we will be taking steps to make the support of terrorists and their families more difficult.
Still there does appear to be hope elsewhere. In December, the UK temporarily suspended funding to the PA because the Brits claim, correctly, that the money winds up in the hands of terrorists. They have established specific criteria for how funding should be distributed, and to whom. Shortly after his inauguration, President Trump held up a last-minute cash giveaway of $221 million to the Palestinians that Barack Obama authorized just hours before he left office. It is unclear whether the funds have been released, or released with restrictions.
So there are three primary questions:
- Do you think the Taylor Force Act will be effective if passed?
- Should we be supporting the Palestinian Authority at all?
- Should we find a way to provide funds that holds the PA accountable for using the funds appropriately?
And Abbas and his cronies continue to pocket the money.
I agree!
I don’t think there is. I don’t know the names of the towns, but I don’t think they are more isolated. Within the Green Line, for example, Abu Ghosh is quite peaceful and totally surrounded while Umm El Fahm is more violent. Gaza is now a continuous segment with an Arab border along its south – but not terribly peaceful. Looking at a map (http://apjjf.org/data/3114_2.png), there are actually relatively few settlements around Hebron as opposed to (for example) Beit Lechem.
Also, I don’t know if a single Christian from Beit Lechem (used to be a huge percentage of the population) have ever carried out a terrorist attack – despite being ‘choked.’
In a quick review, I think the opposite trend might be truer. The closer the quarters, the less violent the relationship.
Ever the gracious hostess and friend, Susan thought that Ricochet readers might be interested in seeing a webinar that I gave on the links between the Palestinian Authority’s public pension system and Mideast terror.
The talk is a bit lengthy (50 minutes or so), and a bit dated (it was delivered in 2015), but mercifully Vimeo puts a scroll bar at the bottom of the screen so that folks can move as they wish through the slides.
You can see it here.
If the Palestinians really wanted peace and a state, they would have had it by now, since many prior presidents of both Israel and the US were overly generous, and it was refused. If your manifesto is to push Israel into the sea, that is hardly the seeds of a peaceful side by side existence. So on these terms, being surrounded by terrorists who make their own rules, it’s un-winnable. It also reminds me of Syria, when you have leadership that really doesn’t care about the quality of life and opportunity for it’s citizens. The Arab leadership is bitter, and so is Israel after never having peace in their own country.
Something else that’s always bothered me because it makes no sense is the land for peace concept. Why would a tiny country like Israel cede the Golan Heights for example, which would make them a bowl from a defense standpoint, like shooting fish in a barrel? What other country so small has ever ceded strategic land for a peace deal, and had it be successful? And given the 69 year history, it is obvious peace is questionable on the best day. It’s like saying to your hostile neighbor, I’ll pay you to be nice to me, and throw in half my backyard.
Israeli dead in terror attacks in 8 years since Netanyahu became PM: 262
Dead in prior 8 years: 1,119
Palestinian conflict dead in 8 years since Netanyahu became PM: <2,000
In 8 years prior: >5,000, >6,000 if you count internecine warfare
Nobody likes him. His policies are seen as the best bad option.
But he has seriously cut death rate for both sides.
His success on the Israeli side is why he is PM.
Sure. Innocence doesn’t come into it.
Re settlements and conflict, here’s a World a Bank study:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMENA/Resources/Report.pdf
Wrt Hebron – looks like it’s pretty hemmed in on that map – Area C and small settlements to the North and South, a big settlement block to the East, and what’s essentially a settlement in the middle of the city:
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/the-shame-of-shuhada-street-hebron/372639/
(But I do agree that religion plays a negative role in creating and perpetuating this conflict. )
Jews lived continuously in Hebron for thousands of years. They were massacred in 1929. Their presence isn’t alien there. The PA’s and Palestinian refusal to allow any Jews on their territory (or the Temple Mount) is very troubling.
Yup. And Israel has done that many times: land for peace.
But it always turns out the land they give up is turned into a base for attack upon them, like Gaza.
Israel is smaller than New Jersey and with less population.
It was the homeland and historical capital of the Jews 1000 years before Christ and 1630 years before Mohammad.
It is the only place 0n the planet to which the Jews lay claim.
And yet: the world is ranged to wrest it away from them.
They alone, among all creeds and nations, are not allowed to pray at their own holiest site.
“God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power!”
If 8% goes to the families of “martyrs”, it is likely most of the other 92% is simply stolen by the leadership.
If the Israelis benefit from Palestinians security forces, let Israel administer that portion of the grant and pay those forces directly.
Everything else should be non-cash benefits distributed by NGOs unless and until the Palestinians figure out how to eschew corruption (i.e., never).
Re your first point, Bathos, that’s pretty much what happens (more or less). That’s why the people are living in camps. Gains them a lot of sympathy, which keeps the dollars rolling in . . . sigh. . .
Playing poker when you don’t know the players or the rules is a loser’s game.
And it kind of sounds like we are in just that position.
And nobody else can get us out except ourselves. I know that Congress is trying with the Taylor Force Act, but it will be interesting to see whether it gets passed. Do we have the guts (or the support to do it) since people will only see the suffering Palestinians and ignore that we’re trying to stop the dollars for terrorism? It’s a first step; then I’d like us to seriously visit all the countries we give money to. They can’t all be allies or countries that we want to ingratiate.
Just to be clear, is your intention here to equate islamic terror with defense against Islamic terror?
I can’t speak for Zafar, Matt, but I don’t think he was equating them. A lot of people, inside and outside of Israel, dislike Netanyahu, but keep voting for him as the best choice under the circumstances. So for some, bad outcomes wherever you look.
I think that if the world would let Israel deal with Palestinians as part of a one state solution rather than subsidize a civil war, Israel would figure out a way to eventually get relative peace within its borders. Part of that solution might be for some Palestinians to leave if they wanted to and if there was a place for them to go an assimilate into a different society. But I would imagine that most Palestinians would stay in Israel. Some would continue to engage in criminal activity and be subject to Israeli law for their crimes. Over time the Palestinian people would be happier and safer than at present. The world is doing the Palestinians no favor by subsidizing a civil war.
Matt – I don’t think that Netanyahu’ primary motivation is protection against terror – rather it is political, and if protecting against terror helps him, then fine, and if taking steps that will inevitably increase terror help him, then also fine.
Rodin – Israel wants the land but not the Arabs on it. Giving Israel a freehand will result in more ethnic cleansing and a bigger mess, certainly not equality in one state. And it’s incorrect to think Palestinians are stuck in Nablus justbecause they can’t go to Jordan – that’s one country they can go, and yet they choose to stay at home.
It might be a stretch to call it a civil war in traditional terms (after all, it’s not Syria), but your points are all in concert with Caroline Glick’s ideas: there’d be relative peace; many would choose to stay due to the benefits they would have; some would leave; and Israeli law would punish those who violate their laws. I’ve become a one-state solution advocate recently, and it makes the most sense to me.
You know I will disagree with you, Zafar. I can’t imagine Netanyahu even trying to justify any steps that would increase terror that might possibly help him–because it couldn’t. This describes an oxymoron to me. Israel will accept the Arabs–they did in the early 20th century–but the Arabs wouldn’t accept them. And if there is a one-state solution, some may very well go to Jordan.
Increased settlements = more terror. It’s a fairly straightforward connection.
And if Palestinians wanted to move to Jordan from the West Bank, what’s stopping them from doing that right now?
No. There is not a direct cause and effect between the settlements and killing families who are living there. Which terrorist act are we talking about Zafar? The one where they killed a whole family? Or are the buses that have been blown up over and over again? Or the people who have been stabbed in the streets? I understand why terrorists will “blame” the Israelis for their despicable acts. I’m disappointed that you would agree with them.
Regarding Jordan, I was simply saying that if one state is finally settled on and the Palestinians don’t want to live in Israel, they can go to Jordan. They’ll have that choice. If they can get over their hatred, I think they’d find Israel a better place to live on many counts.
Re settlements and conflict, here’s a World Bank study:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMENA/Resources/Report.pdf
There is a direct connection. Imho refusing to acknowledge that is refusing to deal with reality. To what end?
That’s pretty much nonsense. What is his political goal if not the safety of his people?
From the conclusion in the linked paper:
This smacks me as the same sort of proof as the IPCC uses for gauging the rate of climate change and the contribution of human activity in climate change. The math in the model may be as accurate as a computational calculation can make it, but how accurate are the inputs and the assumptions underlying the model?
Re-election.
Do you think he would retire if he truly believed a Meretz led Govt would make Israelis personally safer, albeit with no settlements and a definite border? I doubt it.
Do the settlements bother Palestinians? Yes. Overwhelmingly. Additionally Palestinians cite settlements as signs of Israeli bad faith in negotiating a two state solution., because you don’t build on land you’re willing to hand back.
Has violence increased, if you control for other factors like walls and barriers, along with the settlements? Again – yes. In fact the violence that settlement expansion created is what caused Israel to build walls in the first place – they didn’treally need them for the first few decades of the occupation. Even with Gaza!
Does the proximity of settlements make individual Palestinian attitudes towards Israelis worse and more accepting of violence? Again – unsurprisingly yes, the World Bank study even quantified how much yes you get.
So what assumptions are (speaking charitably) unreasonable or not reality based?
I’d say it’s the ones that support the settlement enterprise but don’t want to own that it’s inescapably violent.
Iow: desire wrapped in righteousness wars with conscience in a battle for the soul. Jmho.
Palestinians aren’t particularly well treated in Jordan.
In fact, fairly recently Jordan acted to downgrade the immigration status of many Palestinians already living there ( I think they went from yellow cards to green cards, and in Jordan, green cards give fewer rights).
Tensions there are high, and there have been outbreaks of violence. So it doesn’t surprise me that most Palestinians are not moving there.