In the first half of 2021, the Palestinian Authority did not receive any donor aid funds, according to the budget performance report it publishes monthly. Recent reports indicate that EU funding to the PA has merely been delayed for “technical reasons”. The delay in processing the EU aid has compounded the alleged financial difficulties of the PA resulting from the major drop in all international aid.

Before the EU manages to overcome its technical difficulties and other countries consider restoring aid to the PA, Palestinian Media Watch suggested that the donors first demand that the PA explains why it is funding the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and what exactly the PLO has done with over 415 million shekels it received from the PA since the beginning of 2021. Over the years, cumulatively, the PA expenditure on the PLO institutions has totaled nearly 8 billion shekels.   

Every month the PA transfers huge sums of money to the “PLO institutions”. The sum transferred depends on whether the PA is open and honest about its payments to the terrorist prisoners or whether it is trying to hide them. As PMW has already proven, when the PA is open and honest about its monthly salary payments to the terrorist prisoners, the PA’s monthly budget performance includes a provision for the Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs (or some similar name). When the PA is trying to hide its payments to the terrorist prisoners, it funnels the money through the budgetary provision for the “PLO institutions.” While PMW has written extensively on this PA deceit, the following table sums up the story.

Against the backdrop of its current alleged financial crisis, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas headed a meeting of his Fatah faction central committee. Instead of recognizing that the PA’s terrorist reward program not only costs the PA hundreds of millions of shekels/dollars/euros a month, and that as a direct result of the pugnacious policy international aid to the PA has dropped, Abbas and his central committee decided to dig their heels in, once again committing themselves to continue the policy, come what may.

The reference to the Israeli deduction refers to the implementation of Israeli legislation. As part of the Oslo Accords, Israel agreed to waive certain tax incomes in favor of the PA. Instead of using the Israeli money to fight terror, the PA was using the money to pay its financial rewards to terrorists. As PMW proved, Israel was, in effect, financing and rewarding Palestinian terror against Israel and Israelis.

If the PA budgetary expenses on the PLO institutions continue for the rest of the year as they were during the first half of the year, the total 2021 PA expenditure on the “PLO institutions” is set to reach 830 million shekels or €218,674,851.

In other words, practically, the EU’s entire aid of $150 million donations to the PA, is simply being used to fund the “PLO institutions”, including funding EU designated terror organizations and the payment of the PA’s monthly terror salaries.

Unless the EU is content with its aid to the PA being used to promote, incite and reward terrorism and terrorists and unless the EU is content funding, directly or indirectly, EU designated terror organizations, the EU should first demand that the PA cease funding the “PLO institutions” before renewing its aid.

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