White House sends warning shot to Palestinians over ‘pay for slay’
“This is unconscionable and must stop if there is to be any hope for peace.”
The Trump administration is warning the Palestinian Authority that
severe US aid cuts to Ramallah may be in the offing unless it ends its
compensation program for the families of murderers and terrorists
convicted by Israel.
Responding to reports that the family of the killer of Ari Fuld, an
American citizen, would receive official compensation for the terrorist
act, a White House official noted that recent congressional legislation
compels the administration to “restrict the use of Economic Support
Funds that directly benefit the Palestinian Authority” unless the State
Department “certifies that the PA has taken steps to end the practice of
providing payments to individuals, and families of individuals, who
committed acts of terrorism.”“As we’ve seen from today’s announcement by
the Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Commission with respect to the
terrorist who killed Ari Fuld, the practice continues,” said Edgar
Vasquez, a White House spokesman. “This is unconscionable and must stop
if there is to be any hope for peace.”
Vasquez said the administration “strongly supports” the bill signed into
law in March of this year, called the Taylor Force Act, named after the
US Army veteran and Vanderbilt graduate student killed in a terrorist
attack in Jaffa in 2016. The law would halt funding the PA– except for
three exceptions– unless the State Department reports an end to the
payment scheme.
“The United States condemns the Palestinian Authority’s payments to
terrorists and their families,” Vasquez stated. “We strongly oppose any
program that incentivizes acts of violence and terrorism. We continue to
demand that the Palestinian Authority stop payments related to
perpetrators of political violence.”
Earlier on Thursday, US Ambassador David Friedman condemned the practice in similarly strong terms in a Twitter post.
“The Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Commission has confirmed that the
family of the terrorist who murdered Ari Fuld is ‘eligible to receive a
monthly salary’ as compensation for his incarceration,” Friedman wrote
of the practice, which he also characterized as “unconscionable.”
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