Israel Matzav

And again: Netanyahu and Steinitz donate our tax money money to pay terrorists' salaries

Eight months ago, Israel decided to withhold money from the 'Palestinian Authority' due to its admission to UNESCO. No more. Now, with the 'Palestinians' once again plotting their unilateral admission to the United Nations, the Netanyahu-Lieberman-Steinitz government has decided to donate NIS 180 million to the 'Palestinian Authority' to pay salaries to terrorists for Ramadan. This is from the third link.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz made the decision, one of a number of gestures made since the beginning of the year in an attempt to improve relations with the PA and encourage its President Mahmoud Abbas to renew some kind of dialogue with Israel.

Senior government officials said that the decision to transfer the funds – an advance on money that is to be transferred in the coming months – was made before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit last week, and was not the result of a US request.

In addition, the government’s economic cabinet recently decided to increase by approximately 5,000 the number of Palestinian construction workers allowed to work in the country.

The officials stressed that this quota would be subtracted from the number of foreign workers allowed into Israel and would not come at the expense of Israeli workers.

...

One senior official said this move was taken in the hope that it will “improve the atmosphere.”

Noting that the PA was currently facing a severe budgetary crisis, the official said that this money helped the PA pay its salaries before Ramadan, and was part of Israel’s policy of trying to “preserve the Palestinian economy.”

The last goodwill gesture Israel made to the PA was in May when it handed over the bodies of more than 90 terrorists. That move resulted from a meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu’s envoy, Yitzhak Molcho.

I don't see any improvement in the atmosphere as a result of the previous 'gestures' and I doubt there will be any improvement because of this one. It reminds me of Einstein's definition of stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

I also fail to see why paying salaries to terrorists is a necessity for preserving the 'Palestinian' economy, and even if it were a necessity, it's not a role that Israel ought to be playing.

Finally, if you look at the numbers, this 'advance' was nearly two months' worth of transfers. At the same time, we have Israelis who pay taxes to our government who have no place to live.

What could go wrong?

Labels: martyrs salaries, Palestinian Authority donors, Palestinian economy, Palestinian terrorists, prisoner salaries

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:28 AM