Israel freezes funds, says it assists the attackers’ families

JERUSALEM (Associated Press)-The Israeli Security Cabinet on Sunday froze nearly $200 million in tax transfers to the Palestinians, saying it was equivalent to the amount the Palestinians transferred to the families of suspected attackers last year.

According to the interim peace agreement, Israel collects hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes for the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. Tax transfers are the main source of funds for Palestinians who are short of funds.

Israel has long opposed the Palestinian “Martyrs Fund,” which provides subsidies to thousands of families whose relatives have been killed, injured or imprisoned in the conflict with Israel.

Palestinians say these payments are a welfare system designed to help families affected by the conflict. But Israel stated that such payments are rewards and incentives for violence.

In its decision, the Security Cabinet approved the proposal of Defense Secretary Benny Gantz to freeze approximately 597 million shekels (approximately US$180 million) for the so-called “indirect support of terrorism” in 2020. “. It stated that these funds will freeze payments from Israel to Palestinians on a monthly basis.

For the Palestinians, the families of the attackers are widely regarded as victims of Israel’s half-century of occupation. The Palestinians say that many Palestinians are being held unfairly by Israel, and that the number of prisoners involved in the fatal attack is only a small percentage of the number of prisoners assisted by the fund.

The head of the Palestinian Detainees Commission, Kadri Abu Baker, accused Israel of stealing Palestinian funds, calling the decision a “crime and piracy.”

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said that President Mahmoud Abbas had a phone conversation with Israel’s new President Isaac Herzog on Sunday.

It said that Abbas called on Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem to “comprehensive peace” and called for measures to be taken to create conditions for “a just and comprehensive peace.”

The statement did not mention the frozen tax transfer.