Palestinian Government Pays $42,000 to Family of Terrorist Who Killed Israelis
International | June 8, 2021
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas authorized the payment on Sunday of $42,000 to the family of a terrorist who killed two Israelis through a policy that incentivizes and rewards terrorism against Israel.
Laila Ghannam, governor of Ramallah’s Al-Bireh district, personally handed the money to the family of Muhannad Al-Halabi, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on Sunday. Al-Halabi fatally stabbed two Israeli civilians in 2015 before being shot by police. The $42,000 payment was given to Al-Halabi’s parents “on behalf of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to ‘complete the payment of the cost’ of their home, which was demolished by Israel following the attack,” according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which tracks regional media reports.
The payment is a direct rebuke to a 2018 bipartisan American law known as the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits the U.S. government from giving the Palestinian government aid money until it ends the practice of paying terrorists, known as “pay to slay.” Republican lawmakers say the Biden administration violated this law by restarting U.S. aid to the Palestinians. The Biden administration approved another $100 million in aid for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip late last month, even as it admitted these taxpayer funds could enrich terrorists operating there…
(Excerpts from the Washington Free Beacon)