(JTA) — Following multiple terrorist attacks on Israelis, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman condemned Palestinian laws that reward perpetrators of such acts.
Noting on Twitter that in the past week #Palestinian terrorists have killed or wounded 14 #Israelis in multiple attacks, Friedman wrote Thursday that the Palestinian Authority “maintains laws that will compensate these terrorists and their families for their heinous acts.”
The P.A., he said, “can be a political body OR a sponsor of terror, not both.”
Last year, the Palestinian Authority paid about $198 million to a fund for the families of terrorists killed during their attacks and about $160 million to Palestinians being held in Israeli jails, The Times of Israel reported, citing Israeli Defense Ministry figures.
Separately, earlier this week, President Donald Trump’s envoy for Middle East peace condemned a far-right Israeli group urging the “elimination” of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The call appeared in a poster depicting Abbas in rifle crosshairs and the Hebrew words “Eliminate the murder funders.”
“Just like I condemn incitement from the Palestinian side, I condemn the incitement calling for the assassination of President Abbas,” White House Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt wrote in a tweet. “This is completely unacceptable! All peace-loving people should condemn actions like this as well.”
