Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered 130 million shekels ($35 million) in tax revenue collected for the Palestinian Authority be redirected to terror victims, Smotrich said on Thursday morning.
“The Palestinian Authority encourages and favors terrorism by paying the families of terrorists, prisoners and released prisoners. In accordance with the judgments that awarded compensation to the victims of terrorism, we offset the same amounts from the PA’s funds and transfer the awarded money to the families of the victims of terrorism,” Smotrich said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“At this time, I signed an order that transfers about 130 million shekels from the PA’s frozen funds to victims of terrorism. Justice.”
In a move targeting Ramallah’s “pay for slay” stipends, the Knesset in March passed legislation allowing victims of Palestinian terror to more easily claim financial compensation from the Palestinian Authority.