Israel demands PA stop paying off prisoners' families
Israel's prime minister has called for an end to payments to Palestinians held in Israeli prisoners and their families, but so far the Palestinian Authority has refused to comply.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — In reaction to the open-ended and ongoing hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, started on April 17, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Palestinian Authority on April 22 to to prove its commitment to the peace process by halting the financial allocations to Palestinian prisoners and their families.
Netanyahu's demands come in line with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman's March 16 declaration that the Palestine Liberation Organization's Palestinian National Fund (PNF) is a “terrorist organization” over its “support for elements responsible for terrorist acts against Israel.” Liberman also condemned the disbursement of funds to Palestinian prisoners who killed Israelis. On March 16, the PA dismissed the declaration as a breach of the Oslo Accord signed between the PLO and Israel Sept. 13, 1993.
The PNF receives an annual budget of $250 million from the Palestinian government to conduct the tasks of the PLO's mission. The PNF is also responsible for paying allocations to the prisoners and their families as part of the PNF’s mission to “protect and care for prisoners and their families and support the rehabilitation of released prisoners,” which is included in the government's general budget.
Several PA officials confirmed to Al-Monitor that the PA would remain committed to paying these funds in defiance of Israel.
