The US, the Palestinian Authority and paying to kill Jews

Through a program that has lasted decades, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has subsidized Palestinian families whose members have attacked--or been killed while attacking--both Jews and non-Jews in Israel (Naomi Zeveloff, "Exclusive: does aid to Palestinians subsidize the families of terrorists?", forward, August 23, 2016). This subsidization runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars a year (Brig-Gen (res,) Yossi Kuperwasser, "Incentivizing terrorism: Palestinian Authority allocations to terrorists and their families", Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 2016, retrieved July 10, 2017). 

For a PA that has teetered for years on the edge of bankruptcy, such an expense seems outrageous.  Clearly, the PA has no interest in the welfare of anyone living under its control. Instead of committing funds to build a viable nation-state, the Palestinian Authority pays 'Palestinians' to commit an Arab version of suicide-by-cop.  

 Look at what the PA is doing:

-Palestinians who are in Israeli prisons for the murder and the attempted murder of Israelis receive payments (Kuperwasser, ibid).

-Palestinians who have been released from prison for these crimes receive payments (ibid).

-The families of Palestinians who have been killed attempting to murder Israelis receive payments (ibid).

These payments represent a serious financial commitment. For example, in 2013, these payments added up to a total of $270 million (ibid). This amount equaled 7% of the PA's total operating budget for that year, and 20% of that year's foreign aid received by the PA (ibid).

 By 2016, the PA paid out $303 million to these recipients. This amount equaled 6.9% of  the PA's total operating budget, and 29.6% of that year's foreign aid received (ibid). 

On Wednesday, July 12, 2017, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to hold its first hearing for a Bill that would cut US foreign aid to the PA if it continues to make these payments to terrorists and to the families of deceased terrorists (Michael Wilner, "US Senate to hold hearing on Taylor Force Act next Wednesday", jerusalempost, July 8, 2017). The Bill is named after Taylor Force, a non-Jewish American tourist--and a US Army veteran--who was murdered in Tel Aviv, Israel by a Palestinian terrorist in March, 2016. 

The Bill to enable the Taylor Force Act was introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (ibid). It is supported mostly by Republicans. Senate Democrats are afraid such a Bill would limit the US State Department's ability to negotiate with the PA (ibid). Senate Democrats aren't sure they can support it. They're still thinking about it.

During the Obama administration, no one seemed bothered that Palestinians were being rewarded for killing Israelis. But that official indifference may have ended. During a May 24, 2017 meeting between US President Trump and PA leader Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, Trump told Abbas he has to stop giving financial rewards to Palestinians for killing Israelis and Americans (Katie Pavlich, "Trump tells Abbas: stop paying terrorists and their families to kill innocents", townhall, May 24, 2017). The Taylor Force Act comes forward partly because Abbas has declared he will not stop those payments (Gary Wilig, "Abbas: I'll never stop paying terrorists' salaries", arutzsheva, July 4, 2017).

Now, just days before those Senate hearings were set to begin, the NGO Palestinian Media Watch published (on July 10, 2017) a transcript of an Israeli police interview with a Palestinian captured after trying to kill Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers at two different checkpoints separating the PA and Israel (on the same day at two different locations--see below for details). The transcript illustrates how the PA payment plan truly incentivizes the killing of Israelis. 

This transcript  appears at the palwatch website in an essay written by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jaques Zilberdik, "Interrogation of Palestinian terrorist proves: PA payments motivate terror" (palwatch, July 10, 2017). Here is the transcript, including an introduction by the authors:

In anticipation of the hearing this coming Wednesday in the US Senate on the Taylor Force Act, which would cut all US funding to the Palestinian Authority until it stops paying salaries to terrorists and allowances to families of terrorist "Martyrs," Palestinian Media Watch is releasing a transcript of the Israeli Police's interrogation of a Palestinian terrorist, which PMW received and translated from the original in Arabic.

The terrorist, Khaled Rajoub, was caught after an unsuccessful attempt to murder Israelis. During interrogation, he explained that his motivation for the planned murder was so he himself would also be killed and his family would then receive monthly payments from the PA. In his own words: "... any Israeli target - the important thing is that I will die and they will kill me, so that my children will receive a [PA] allowance and live happily."

Had Khaled Rajoub been killed by Israel during his terror attack, the PA would have declared him a "Martyr" and this would secure his family a monthly PA lifetime allowance of 2,800 shekels/month: 1,400 base pay, 400 for his wife and 200 for each of 5 children.

Khaled Rajoub's statements show that the PA's financial rewards to terrorists and "Martyrs'" families definitely constitute motivation for terror.

Throughout the interrogation, terrorist Rajoub kept emphasizing his determination to kill Israelis in order to receive PA allowances for his family...

Khaled Rajoub: "I am a man with a family of seven, including me and my wife. I don't work, and I've accumulated large debts, and am unable to pay them off. I reached a point where, if my son wants a shekel, I have nothing to give him. Therefore I decided to die - it didn't matter how - by hanging - any way, [just] to die. I thought about it and said to myself that if I die by hanging, or any other way, I won't get anything out of it, so I decided to do something serious, such as committing murder, something in which I will both kill and die, and then my family will get money (i.e., from the PA) and will live comfortably. In other words, something will come out of my death. In the end I decided to kill Israeli soldiers. I got in a car and drove to Al-Fawwar, to the junction, because there's always a military post there, and I said [to myself] that I'll run them [the soldiers] over in my car and kill as many as I can, and they'll shoot me and kill me. However, I didn't find a military post in Al-Fawwar. I continued to drive to a second post, to the gate of [the Israeli town Beit] Hagai because I know there are always soldiers standing there, and I said to myself that I'll run them over and kill as many as possible, and they'll kill me. However, I did not find [any soldiers] there either. I had no other hope or way, so I broke through the gate of the settlement. I said [to myself] I can kill the guard, and then they'll shoot me. I broke in with my car and broke it [the gate] and rammed into the second gate. But I couldn't break it and the guards were behind the second gate. I tried to break it in order to bring it down on them, but it didn't come down, and they didn't shoot me, but captured me instead. I was injured during the incident and they took me to a hospital..."

Israeli interrogator: "Did you try to kill the guards who were behind the gate?"

Khaled Rajoub: "Yes, exactly, I tried to bring down the gate on them. I rammed into it twice, but it didn't come down, and then they captured me and the car remained with them. Too bad I couldn't kill anyone, and I am determined. Meaning if you release me now, I will take a car, look for soldiers, run them over, and kill them. I am determined to do so."

Interrogator: "Do you have a gun?"

Khaled Rajoub: "I've never carried [a gun]."

Interrogator: "Did you consider bringing a gun?"

Khaled Rajoub: "I have nothing to eat, how can I buy a gun?"

Interrogator: "But why did you decide to kill soldiers, and not someone else?"

Khaled Rajoub: "The best is to kill soldiers. That way they have guns and they'll shoot me and kill me. But if I'm not able to kill soldiers, I'll try settlers, guards - in other words any Israeli target - the important thing is that I will die and they will kill me, so that my children will receive a [PA] allowance and live happily."

Interrogator: "What did you want to achieve by killing soldiers or settlers, or any Israeli target?"

Khaled Rajoub: "So they'd shoot me and I'd die, and my children would receive an allowance."

Interrogator: "Are you still determined to do that?"

Khaled Rajoub: "Of course, 100%. I'm telling you - if you'll set me free, I'll do it again as soon as possible. I'll bring another car, and I'll run over [soldiers] at the first military post I see. I'll kill as many as possible, and they'll shoot me, and I'll die. There is no other solution."

Interrogator: "If you have the opportunity to kill soldiers or an Israeli [civilian] in another way - shooting, stabbing, or any other way - will you do it?"

Khaled Rajoub: "I don't know. Something like that requires checking. Why? Because someone like me, small and disabled in his leg - I barely walk - needs a thorough plan to kill in a different way. The easiest way for someone like me is to run over [someone] with a car."

Interrogator: "Do you want to add anything?"

Khaled Rajoub: "No, God bless you. But I say to you again - I don't regret what I did, and if I have the opportunity, I'll do it again, and I'll kill soldiers or any Israeli I come across."

[Israeli Police interrogation of terrorist Khaled Rajoub, Feb. 2, 2014]

The US Senate can act against this terror support plan. Certainly, it can pressure Abbas and his cronies to stop it.

 The murderous Palestinian incentive program you've just seen--which preys on the poor--should not be supported by any nation. Abbas' behavior here is criminal. He creates a true incentive to kill. That's unconscionable. The United States Senate should vote 'yes' for the Taylor Force Act.