In First, Council of Europe Tells Palestinians to Stop Funding Terror

At Israel’s behest, the Council of Europe for the first time called on the Palestinians to stop incentivizing terrorism.

By: United with Israel Staff

A Knesset delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was successful in softening the language of a resolution denouncing the US’ recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and Israeli construction in the ”occupied territories,” while successfully pushing it to call on the Palestinians to cease their practice of financially incentivizing  Palestinian terrorists.

The final resolution, submitted to PACE’s Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy at the initiative of Palestinian delegates, states that “the role of the USA as a serious broker in the peace process was undoubtedly undermined by the declaration of its President on Jerusalem.”

Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership is refusing to return to the negotiating table completely and has repeatedly announced it will reject any peace plan proposed by the Trump administration.

The head of the Israeli delegation, Member of Knesset (MK) Aliza Lavie, succeeded in adding to the final draft a clause in which, for the first time, the Council of Europe called on the PA to stop providing financial support to prisoners convicted of terror acts and to their families. The resolution was adopted on Thursday with a vast majority.

According to PA laws and regulations, every terrorist arrested, tried and imprisoned in Israel receives monthly financial payments. The more Israelis killed and the longer the terrorist is sentenced to prison, the higher the PA payment to the terrorist or their family.

For instance, a Palestinian terrorist who murders innocent civilians and is sentenced to over 30 years in prison receives over $3,000 US dollars a month.

Palestinian terrorist prisoners are regarded by the PA as patriotic “fighters” and as employees of the PA government. While in prison, these terrorists and their families are paid premium salaries and given extra benefits as rewards for their “service.” On release from custody, the terrorists become civil service employees.

The PA spends at least $300 million annually on terrorists’ stipends, totaling approximately $1 billion over the past few years. At the same time, the PA receives massive international aid and exists on the verge of bankruptcy.

Baby Diplomatic Steps

In addition to adding the clause demanding Palestinians stop incentivizing terror, the Israeli delegation thwarted a Palestinian initiative to add five clauses to the final draft which condemn Israel. Since Israel has only observer status at the council’s Parliamentary Assembly, the Israeli delegation recruited the support of MPs from a number of European countries.

Following the vote, Lavie said, “The obsession of the European institutions with Israel has remained the same, but with a determined effort we managed, for the first time, to add to the final report an unequivocal call to stop the support for terrorists and their families.”

”Unfortunately, many members of the council are blind to the fact that the conflict did not begin with President Trump’s declaration or construction in Jerusalem,” she argued. ”Rather, it stems from the Palestinians’ consistent refusal to recognize the existence of the State of Israel, in any territory.”

She said that behind the scenes, more countries are sympathetic to Israel’s claims, and Israel’s diplomatic efforts are bearing fruit, albeit partially.

However, “the insistence to continue to accept every Palestinian demand to adopt unfounded resolutions in urgent procedures – not only does this not promote peace, it pushes it further away and encourages the Palestinians to avoid direct negotiations,” she stated.