The chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Ram Ben Barak (Yesh Atid), rejected last night (Tuesday) for the third time a discussion that was supposed to take place about six months ago on offsetting the money from terrorist salaries.
The debate was initiated by MK Orit Struck (Religious Zionism) in January 2022. The demand was joined by MKs Avi Dichter, Amichai Shikli and Moshe Arbel.
Struck argued in the Knesset plenum that the government is not complying with the law, which requires it to deduct from the tax money it transfers to the Palestinian Authority, an amount equal to all the terrorist allowances it pays to terrorists or members of terrorist families.
The plenary debate was held in January, and was then approved for immediate discussion in the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
In practice, the first date set by the committee's management was March 14.
As the date approached, Struck was informed by the committee's management that it could not be held during the Knesset recess, and therefore it was supposed to take place last night.
But last night, the committee management told Struck that a further postponement had been decided.
At this stage, no new date has been set for the issue to be discussed.
Struck even hinted recently that the system is "looking for excuses" to postpone discussions on the sensitive issue.
MK Struck. "Stop the Theater of the Absurd", Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
In the preliminary questions that Stroke sent to Ben-Barak, she demanded to know, among other things, what the exact and full amount of money that has been frozen by Israel to date is.
She also demanded full details of the "loans" that Defense Minister Bnei Gantz gave to the Palestinian Authority, but it is not clear under what authority he did so.
"From what budgetary source were the funds transferred to the authority taken and by what legal authority?"
Struck wrote in a preliminary document, which she passed on to Ben Barak.
However, the chairman of the committee eludes the discussion. It should be noted that the government is taking further steps to hide the economic support it is transferring to the PA.
Following the announcement of the rejection, MK Avi Dichter (Likud) attacked Ben-Barak and the government: "Ben-Barak has decided to cancel the debate.
It is clear to us that this abolition is intended to prevent embarrassment from the government at the meeting of the committee, which is also the body that is supposed to oversee the actions of the government.
We have dramatic data on the subject, which will be revealed in the coming days, "he threatened.
MK Ben Barak. Urgent constraint or evasion of the debate ?, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
In addition, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has been refraining for five months from bringing to the cabinet the defense establishment's report on the volume of terrorist salaries for 2021. As a result, the sums are not offset.
MK Struck told Israel Today that "in the midst of a wave of terrorism, the State of Israel is paying salaries to its killers, and no one in the government is pointing a finger at stopping this horror.
"This is done in complete violation of the law, morals, and security needs of the State of Israel. The intelligence minister, who enacted this law, tries not to know what is going on under his nose. The finance minister, who solemnly condemns Abu Mazen, hands him the money and signs the checks for terrorists. "The defense minister is issuing illegal instructions, and the prime minister does not dare to oppose his instructions. The cabinet ministers are all closing their eyes wide and filling their mouths with water.
The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said in response: "The scheduled hearing has been postponed due to an urgent schedule of the committee chairman, which came up last night.
The committee's secretariat has not yet set a new date, and when it is set, we will update. "
Participated in the preparation of the article:
Amir Ettinger
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