Jerusalem – A top Israeli official praised on Sunday the decision by the Norwegian foreign minister to halt payments to the Palestinian Authority that go to Palestinian terrorists and their families.
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Dore Gold, Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, called Norwegian Ambassador to Israel Jon Hanssen-Bauer to thank him for Norway’s refusal to pay the PA funds that end up in the hands of Palestinian terrorists.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Børge Brende challenged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about the payments to terrorists earlier in the month, the Norwegian daily Dagen reported.
Brende said he told Abbas that the program “is unacceptable and should be abolished,” and that “Abbas responded by repeating assurances that Norwegian funds are not going to finance the program.”
“Norway has made clear that under no circumstances would it contribute funds that would be transferred to support convicted terrorists and their families,” according to a statement released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Sunday.
“It is outrageous that killing Israelis has become a source of income for many in the PA,” Gold said. “This completely contradicts what peace is all about. These payments incentivize terrorism and must be stopped.”
Upon undergoing heavy criticism in the international arena, the PA announced in August 2014 that it would stop paying terrorist prisoners’ salaries. However, payments continue, according to a report by the watchdog NGO Palestinian Media Watch published in April. While payment is no longer directly made to terrorists from PA coffers, PMW claimed, funds are now instead filtered from the PA to the terrorists through the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
According to the report, in 2014 the PA’s Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs was granted 442 million shekels to go toward terrorist prisoners. Although the PA shut down the ministry’s funds in 2015, the report notes an increase in 481 million shekels given to the PLO – strikingly close to the amount formerly allocated to the jailed terrorists.
“While the PA fraudulently claims to donor countries that the PLO is paying salaries to terrorist prisoners from non-PA sources, in fact the PA continues to be the source of the rewards to the terrorists,” claimed the report by Palestinian Media Watch. “Unaware that the PA continues to fund salaries to terrorists, the donor countries continue to contribute nearly one billion dollars a year to the PA.”
Notice Norway didn’t say they’re going to halt ALL money to the PA, just money that will supposedly go to the terrorists! Meaning they’ll designate funds to the PA which the PA will have to “promise” will be used instead to “rebuild” gaza. Much the same as obama’s nefarious deal with Iran, which supposedly relies on iran’s word that they’ll behave and not go nuclear! Idiots one and all,
Reply to 1. For a European country this act is subversively pro Israel