Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu and his inner cabinet have made the decision to resume the release of tax funds to the 'Palestinian' Authority.The funds were suspended after the 'Palestinians' violated the Road Map and the Oslo Accords by making an attempt to bypass negotiations with Israel with an unsuccessful unilateral declaration of statehood at the UN and a successful bid to become a full member of UNESCO.
Th eIsraeli government accompanied the release of th efunds with the feeble threat that the freeze would be implemented again if the 'Palestinians' tried to do an end run around negotiations by going to the UN again.
Only Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman opposed the move, and spoke fairly pointedly about it, but said he would not take his party out of the governmental coalition.
Lieberman said it was a mistake to transfer the money to the PA when President Mahmoud Abbas uses “the money to give stipends and apartments to murderers, and by so doing grants status and honor to the murders of Israelis and Jews, encouraging the next generation to join the ranks of the terrorists.”
He's quite correct about that. The Israelis were forced to watch as Abbas greeted convicted killers freed by Israel as part of the ransom for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as 'holy warriors' and granted them $5,000 apiece and a house. All of them received a salary from the PA while they were incarcerated. The message this sends to the 'Palestinians' is that Jew killing pays rather well, that it's something to aspire to and that the Israelis are willing to put up with it.
No doubt that Netanyahu came under considerable pressure to take this step, including from people clueless enough to make the argument that weakening Abbas and the PA was helping Hamas.They seem not to have noticed that Fatah and Hamas have resolved their differences and are now implementing the unity agreement they signed in Cairo.
However, I wouldn't be surprised if Netanyahu obtained a quid pro quo behind the scenes, most likely from the Obama Administration for acquiescing to this folly.
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