The European Union Is Paying Palestinians for Not Working

by Michael Curtis

The European Union (EU) has not hesitated in making known its criticisms of the State of Israel and its suggestions for boycotts against some Israeli products.  Recently, the EU agency for combating racism has been unable to define the term "anti-Semitism" and has removed the working definition it adopted in 2005.  By contrast, the EU has turned a blind eye to the fact that it has knowingly been paying Palestinians for not working.


This information is revealed in a sober special report, no. 14, of the European Union's  Court of Auditors published on December 11,  2013.  This special report covers the detailed story of the EU's financial support, including direct support, to the Palestinian Authority (PA) that since 1994 has amounted to more than 5.6 billion euros.


The EU supports public services for the benefit of the Palestinian population, but the payment of non-performing civil servants does not serve this objective.  About 24% of those on the payroll of PA health and education ministries, some 60,000 people, are paid but not working.  They stopped reporting to their jobs when Hamas seized power in Gaza.


The new December report outlines the financial assistance given by the EU.  An interim association agreement on trade and cooperation had been signed in 1997 between the then-European community and the PLO on behalf of the PA.  Between 1994 and 2006, more than 2.7 billion euros were given to the Palestinians from the EU's general budget


Another agreement was signed in 2005 between the EU and the Palestinians to support the political and economic reform agenda over the next few years.  Between 2007 and 2012, a further 2.9 billion euros was given from the EU's general budget.


EU funding has increasingly come from the PEGASE (the French acronym for European-Palestinian Management and Socio-Economic Help), the mechanism launched in 2008 to support the Palestinian Authority, officially to help it until the overall political objective of a two-state solution is achieved.  It is the main instrument used by the EU to provide financial assistance directly from the EU budget.


The PEGASE Direct Financial Support (DFS) program, intended to meet recurring expenditures and give support to private-sector businesses,  has provided about 1 billion euros in funding to the PA from 2008 to 2012.  This is more than 10% of the PA's annual revenue and has been an important aid in keeping the PA's budget deficit down.  That overall budget deficit is  $1.7 billion, or 17% of GDP.


In addition, more than 1.3 billion euros was given from DFS.  The EU is the largest donor to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), having provided  789 million euros to support it.


The DFS funding resulted from the crisis caused by the temporary suspension of aid to the PA after the Hamas victory in January 2006.  A temporary international mechanism (TIM) was set up to ensure direct assistance to the Palestinian population, thus enabling the EU to bypass the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip.  Since 2008, the TIM has been replaced by the PEGASE mechanism.


The EU helps the PA meet its obligations to civil servants, pensioners, and vulnerable families; maintain essential public services; and improve public finances.  Part of the present problem is the number supported as part of "vulnerable families," those living in extreme poverty in the West Bank and Gaza, which has increased from 44,000 in 2008 to 60,000 in 2012.  


The PEGASE program provides support for Palestinian development, for delivery of public services, and for essential  services such as fuel to the Gaza power plant to ensure sufficient electricity to people living in Gaza, a supply that has cost 183 million euros.  In a variety of ways, the EU has supported the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem, which it argues should be the capital of a Palestinian state.  In addition, the EU  provides some financial support for businesses destroyed or damaged during the Israeli "Operation Cast Lead" in 2008 to stop Hamas rockets attacking Israel.  About 22 million euros were given to 915 companies.


Criticism of the Palestinians is made politely in the report, but it is clear.  The financial relationship is increasingly in "need of an overhaul," notably in relation to its civil service.  There has been little or no review of public service grades or pay scales. The report questions whether the PEGASE DFS aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has been shown to be incompetent and perhaps corrupt with its finances, can now be sustained.


As a bow to political correctness, the report suggests that the continuing restrictions by Israel on the PA help cause overall fiscal difficulties, and that a way needs to be found to bring Israel to take the necessary steps to ensure that PEGASE DFS is effective.  But the evidence of the report itself shows that Israel's actions have little to do with the plight of the Palestinians.  A major reason for this is that the number of Palestinian beneficiaries has been increasing while funding by outside donors has been decreasing.  Even the EU has decreased its support from 524 million euros in 2011 to 358 million in 2012.


Despite the large amount of money provided by the EU, the PA faced a severe budget deficit in 2012, which led to public finance management problems.  The delay in payment of salaries by the PA led to demonstrations and strikes among civil servants in September 2012.


The EU publicly supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and envisages the creation of a viable, contiguous, and democratic Palestinian state, living side by side with Israel in peace and security.  It recognizes some of the events that have set back the peace process.  The first occurred in January 2006, when Hamas defeated the Fatah party in the Palestinian parliamentary elections.  The EU understood that Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist and indeed classifies it as a terrorist organization.


The de facto division of Palestinians occurred when fighting broke out between Fatah and Hamas in June 2007, and Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip.  The EU does not have a contract with Hamas, but it does try to help the Gaza population.  It would do even more by calling on Hamas to stop its terrorist activity and enter into negotiations with and officially recognize the State of Israel.



Michael Curtis is author of Jews, Antisemitism, and the Middle East.

Source:

Israeli NGO Shurat HaDin, to sue PA for terrorism at The Hague

NGO Chairwoman: PA starting war against soldiers, ‘we’ll defend them’.

Shahar Chai’


An Israeli civil rights NGO is preparing to sue the Palestinian Authority in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its alleged responsibility for thousands of terrorist attacks on Israel.

Shurat HaDin’s Nitsana Darshan-Leitner – Photo: Zvika Tishler

The publicity material shows the tagline on top of photographs of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismayil Haniyeh behind bars.
After the United Nations upgraded its status to non-member observer state in late November, the Palestinian Authority hinted its intentions to sue Israelis for alleged war crimes at the ICC in The Hague.
Though recent attempts to revive the peace process appear to have halted these efforts, Shurat HaDin started preparing thousands of cases against the Palestinian Authority and its leaders.
“We call on all Israeli citizens who were harmed in terror attacks to testify through our Facebook page and tell their traumatic experiences,” the organization’s chairwoman Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner explained.
Shurat HaDin, founded in 2002, is an Israeli civil rights non-governmental organization aimed at using litigations against groups it alleges are terror organizations.
So far the NGO won cases to the sum of over a billion US dollars, of which over $120 million were collected.
On 2012 the organization aided in the thwarting of a Gaza bound flotilla and is currently involved in the campaign against the BDS movement.
“Our aim is to prevent this move (suing soldiers) by the Palestinian Authority,” said Darshan-Leitner.
“We’ve realized that when the Palestinian Authority is accepted into the ICC, it becomes exposed to lawsuits as well. “We’ve received dozens of terror victims’ testimonies, from relatively ‘light’ stories to truly shocking ones,” she said.
“I’m certain anyone who hears about the campaign will know at least one victim and encourage them to turn to us.
“They are starting a war against our soldiers, and we’ll do everything we can to defend them,” Darshan-Leitner said.

View original Ynet publication at: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4367659,00.html

via israelandstuff.com

We'll take your billion dollars but don't tell us how to run our reichlet

(Carl) The 'Palestinian Authority' has told Qatar to butt out of its 'unity talks' with Hamas.Less than a week after Qatar promised the 'Palestinian Authority' $1 billion to stop the 'Judaizing' of Jerusalem, the 'Palestinian Authority' has told Qatar to butt out of its 'unity talks' with Hamas. A senior member of Palestinian movement Fatah described a Qatari call for new reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo as “suspicious and unnecessary,” Egypt's state-run news agency MENA reported on Sunday. Hamas has reportedly welcomed the offer of talks. Azzam Al-Ahmed, a member of Fatah's central committee who is in charge of reconciliation efforts at Fatah, said that the reconciliation process with Hamas is moving forward through a "specified timetable." "Too much discussion about this issue is a waste of time; we are very optimistic about the reconciliation process as we are in constant contact with Egyptian officials," Al-Ahmed said. The Fatah leader said he expected that talks with Hamas over a national government would take place at the same time as discussions over the updating of the voter registration list. "We might just need 24 hours for government talks; President Mahmoud Abbas said before that he would issue two decrees, one calling for elections and other on the formation of a new government," he said. At their first meeting in almost a year, Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal agreed in January to revive a stalled reconciliation deal between the rival Palestinian factions. This happened less than a week after Qatar promised the 'Palestinian Authority' $1 billion to stop the 'Judaizing' of Jerusalem,

#Netanyahu Allows Transfer of PA Funds

Money (illustration)

Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has decided to allow the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority, which is ruled by Fatah.
The Prime Minister's Office said that the decision was reached with the consent of the ministers who sit on the diplomatic-security cabinet. Treasury Minister Yair Lapid will instruct his ministry to transfer the funds to the PA.
The funds, from customs collected by Israel on behalf of the PA, were frozen after the PA made a unilateral move in the UN, gaining recognition as a non-member observer state.
The last transfer of funds from Israel to the PA was made in late November, just two days before the PA's UN move. 

via israelnationalnews.com

#Obama unblocks frozen funds so #PalestinianAuthority can receive another HALF BILLION from the US taxpayer #UPDATED

the President has his priorities straight? The 'sequester' is cutting control towers at 149 airports, but priorities man, priorities. The 'Palestinian Authority' really needs their aid money for those terrorist salaries.

(h/t OTHER) HUSSEIN Obama 'admin' unblocks frozen funds so Palestinian Authority can receive $500mn in aid.(RT).The US has unblocked almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority as it faces its worst economic crisis in years. The move comes months after Congress froze Palestinian aid in response to its bid for non-member observer status at the UN.
“To date, we have moved $295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money…and $200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
The first sum comprises around $195.7 million, allocated under the 2012 fiscal year budget for US Agency for International Development (USAID) economic, development and humanitarian assistance, as well as a further $100 million allocated to narcotics control.
The second sum of $200 million will come under the 2013 budget and be spent for direct budget support.
The news was announced after US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a visit to Israel and the West Bank earlier this week. It was Obama’s first trip to the region since taking office in 2009.
During a meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday, Obama reportedly asked the leader to refrain from turning to the International Criminal Court.“for any reason,” including settlement expansion, the Times of Israel reported.
Abbas previously stated that he would turn to the court if Israel began to build in the controversial E1 corridor that connects East Jerusalem with the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, but would wait two months before doing so, London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported.
Israel announced its plans to build in the area after Abbas’ move for a UN status upgrade.

reward for bad behavior: your money

President Obama's State Department announced on Friday that the President has quietly released some $500 million in aid money to the 'Palestinian Authority' over the last couple of weeks (Hat Tip: Sooper Mexican via Bad Blue / Carl).

QUESTION: Can I ask on Palestinian aid? There’s reporting out of the region that the funds have actually been unblocked kind of a bit quietly over the last couple of weeks, the 200 million that was held up in Congress, and that’s now been received by the Palestinian Authority.

MS. NULAND: Jo, I don’t – I’m just finding it here. I did go through this about a week ago in some detail. I can do it again for you. To date, we have moved $295.7 million in Fiscal Year 2012 money, 200 million of that – see, this – numbers don’t – oh, and 200 million in Fiscal Year 2013 assistance. So breaking that down again, 200 million in FY2013 ESF money was direct budget support for the Palestinian Authority; 195.7 million in FY12 Economic Support money went for development and humanitarian assistance implemented by USAID; 100 million in FY2012 for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement; and then in February – at the end of February we notified Congress about another 200 million that we’d like to move.

QUESTION: So you’ve moved the 295 --

MS. NULAND: Total of 295.7 in FY12 and 200 in FY13. Why don’t we go through it again afterwards if you need to?

QUESTION: That’s been moved, okay.

MS. NULAND: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: And then 200 is still – you want another further 200?

MS. NULAND: Correct. We’ve notified.

Will Obama make Israel "an offer it can't refuse?"

Israel, Jews, and Judaism: Will Obama make Israel “an offer it can’t refuse?

There is a report making the rounds that unnamed “Israeli sources” claim that Barack Obama will shortly “demand a timetable for Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank,” presumably in return for the US dealing with Iran. A 2014 deadline to establish a Palestinian state is mentioned.

Things like this surface all the time, and mostly they are simply nonsense. It is irresponsible for a journalist, or even a blogger, to publish what is essentially a rumor based on a single report which does not even include a source.

And yet…

There are certainly people in the White House who would think this is a good idea. Everyone knows, they would say, that only details prevent a two-state solution, and the main obstacle to moving forward is right-wing influence on the Israeli PM. Here’s an opportunity, they are saying, let’s take it.

The simple reason that there can be no two-state solution is that it entails the acceptance by the Palestinians of the continued existence of the Jewish state west of the Green Line, and that contradicts the essence of the Palestinian national project. Indeed, one could — I would — go so far as to say that Arabs who would accept a peaceful state alongside Israel as a permanent goal could not properly be called ‘Palestinians’, since the very definition of a ‘Palestinian people’ negates Zionism (but perhaps I digress).

Dennis Ross, who knows as much about ‘peace processing’ as anyone, recently put forward a 14-point plan to bring about a two-state solution. It illustrates two things: one, that Ross possesses a paradoxical combination of intelligence, experience and the inability to see his nose in front of his face; and two, that the concessions it would require from the Palestinians are, as I said above, unthinkable.

Regardless, while a ‘solution’ — that is, an agreement that ends the conflict — is impossible, a coerced Israeli withdrawal in the context of an agreement that pretends to end the conflict is. And that is the danger.

Whether those who would like to force a withdrawal cynically understand that it would be disastrous for Israel’s security and don’t care (or welcome such a disaster), or whether they actually believe it would be a step toward peace is not important. What is important is that they might be able to sell the idea to a public — particularly liberal Jews — that to a great extent continues to believe in the two-state idea. And if they don’t object strongly enough, how could it be stopped?

The confirmation of Chuck Hagel, and particularly the collapse of Sen. Charles Schumer should be instructive. When push comes to shove, today’s liberals — even “strong supporters of Israel” like Schumer are Obama supporters first.

There is another aspect of the situation. That is that the combination of a blow against Iran with a blow against Israel would be a win-win for Sunni Muslim interests in the Middle East: the Saudis, the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey would all like to see Iran defanged and Israel weakened vis-a-vis the Palestinians. Interestingly, Islamist Turkey, the Brotherhood and the Saudis seem to be the people that President Obama finds the most congenial in the region.

Everything seems to be lining up to their advantage. Israel withdraws, the US bombs Iran, Hizballah responds by attacking Israel. Sunni forces, in particular those supported by Turkey, take advantage of the chaos (and the preoccupation of Hizballah) to finish off Assad and take control of Syria. Although the US will support the Palestinian Authority for a time, Hamas — don’t forget, it is the Palestinian branch of the Brotherhood — will soon get control of Judea and Samaria one way or another.

There are other unpleasant possibilities — US-led UN or NATO troops in Judea/Samaria to ‘protect’ the peace agreement, which will end up protecting Palestinian terrorists against Israel, even the possibility of the IDF and Americans shooting at each other. Sound impossible? Chuck Hagel thought it was a good idea, as did Samantha Power, Obama’s “Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council.

So, yes, the rumor about a planned offer that Israel can’t refuse is only a rumor. But it could be a true rumor. We’ll find out very shortly.

http://fresnozionism.org/2013/03/will-obama-make-israel-an-offer-it-cant-refuse/

US judge rules that Palestinians have the right to cover up memo linking it to jihad-martyrdom suicide murder of two teensUS judge rules that Palestinians have the right to cover up memo linking it to jihad-martyrdom suicide murder of two teens

Pro-jihad rulings in the courtroom ..... more and more sharia.

U.S. judge rules that Palestinian Authority has right to cover up memo linking it to jihad-martyrdom suicide murder of two teens Jihadwatch

How compromised is the American legal system? This compromised. "US judge backs Palestinian Authority's bid to conceal memo linking it to 2002 Israel bombing," by Bruce Golding for the New York Post, January 14 (thanks to Jihadwatch):

A US judge has ruled that the Palestinian Authority has the right to cover up a memo linking it to a suicide bombing that killed two teen American citizens in Israel, The Post has learned.
The document — accidentally handed over to lawyers suing the authority for $300 million on behalf of the teens’ parents — reveals a “close relationship” between the bomber and a captain in the Palestinian Authority security forces who planned the terror attack, court papers say.
The two-page memo, written in April 2012 by Maj. Ziad Abu Hamid of the authority’s General Intelligence Service, also details “at least six other critical facts” about the 2002 bombing and “clearly establishes the defendants’ material support and liability,” the federal court filing says.
But Washington, DC, federal Judge Richard Leon ordered the memo returned or destroyed after the authority’s lawyers claimed it was “privileged and protected” information.
Scott Shatsky, 60, the Brooklyn-born father of one victim, called the decision “incomprehensible.”
“It makes me feel that justice is not being done,” the Brighton Beach native said. “Maybe I’m missing something, but to me it’s just outrageous.”...

You're not missing anything.

via atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com

Khaled Abu Toameh's Facebook account blocked

Former JPost reporter Khaled Abu Toameh's Facebook account has been blocked, apparently because of articles he posted about corruption in the 'Palestinian Authority' (Hat Tip: Lahav Harkov via Twitter).

The Commentator has learned that following complaints from the Palestinian Authority and Jordanian security authorities about his articles dealing with corruption, Facebook had taken the steps necessary to effectively censor his work.

In speaking this morning to us, Abu Toameh noted, "All I have done recently is share some articles which have been in the Jordanian press (in Arabic) about corruption. I am for transparency, against corruption, and yet they ban my account and continue to allow the leader of Hamas to have an account. I am not in favour of terrorism like he is. This is an attempt to silence me. To do this to a journalist is very bad."

Facebook sent the following pro-forma e-mail to Abu Toameh yesterday evening: “You posted an item that violated our Terms of Use, and this item has been removed. Among other things, content that is hateful, threatening, or obscene is not allowed, nor is content that attacks an individual or group. Continued misuse of Facebook's features could result in your account being disabled.”

Toameh also told The Commentator that over the past few days, he has been the subject of much online abuse, as well as threats and an apparently concerted smear campaign against him.
This recently culminated in the posting of an article on the ‘Sabbah.biz’ website, accusing Toameh of being an ‘Israeli Hasbara agent’ and showing a picture of him with the Star of David on his head. The website is run by ‘Haitham Sabbah’, who is based out of Tulkarm in the West Bank.

A petition is already being circulated calling for Facebook to restore the account, stating: "It is not the role of Facebook to act as a censor of the truth so please sign to put pressure on to reopen this account if there is to be a chance for peace, stifling the truth and hiding the reality of corruption and incitement of hatred instead of promoting a peaceful solution is not the way."

Disgraceful. Click through and sign the petition. 

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

Is the Palestinian Authority collapsing?

Nick Gray..
The Commentator..
02 November '12..
Fatah loses out in West Bank elections; thousands of Jerusalem Arabs want to be Israeli citizens and Palestinians would rather spend their money (and earn it) on Israel's side of the security barrier.
Are we seeing the collapse of the Palestinian Authority (PA) along with the two-state solution it was supposed to be promoting?
On October 20th, the PA held its first major round of elections since 2006 when Hamas came out on top in a surprise result. In a shock to the restrictive policies of Fatah, a number of candidates rebelled and stood in opposition to their old party. Unfortunately for Fatah, many of them won as well.
There were local municipal elections in 93 areas of the PA and voters were faced with a mix of candidates from Fatah, Fatah rebels and various left-wing parties (no Hamas candidates, since Hamas boycotted the elections).
As reported on BBC News, Fatah only won in around 40% of the municipalities and four major towns and cities are now run by non-Fatah mayors and councils (including Ramallah, seat of PA government). This is a massive vote of no confidence in the corruption-ridden and oppressive PA regime - and there will be another round of elections in the remaining 82 municipal areas currently under Fatah control. Potentially, by Christmas, Fatah could find themselves with hardly anyone in the many towns and villages of the West Bank to govern.

Rubbing salt in the wound of chaotic election results came the news, released by Fatah's official with the "Jerusalem Portfolio", that more than 10,000 Jerusalem Arabs had been granted Israeli citizenship.
Since Jerusalem is being claimed by the PA for the capital of a Palestinian state, there may not be too many Palestinians left there to be its citizens. This exodus from PA control, against warnings and threats from both Fatah and Hamas, started in 1993 with the Oslo Accords as Jerusalem's Arab inhabitants realised what they would lose if the city came under Palestinian government.
Gone would be the top quality health care, access to good jobs and a standard of living unequalled in all the surrounding nations. Add to this the benefits of being part of a democracy and free access through Ben Gurion airport to the rest of the world and you can well understand the eagerness of many Palestinians to get the dark blue passport of Israeli citizenship. The applications have increased in recent years with fears of losing Israeli residence and coming back under PA control.
Just a week before the municipal elections and with unemployment in the PA area running at 17%, Israel increased the number of work permits for Palestinians by 10,000 to 40,000. That's official permits - it's believed that up to another 60,000 Palestinians are working in Israel illegally. And many Palestinians work in the "illegal" Israeli settlements in the West Bank as well; an arrangement forbidden by the PA but profitable for both Palestinian workers and settlement employers (but that's a whole other blog post by itself).
There are other indications of the impending collapse of the PA, adding to the futility of Mahmoud Abbas' attempts to move towards a UN-recognised state. For one, the PA is bankrupt. Its Arab donors are letting it down and not paying up. Western donor nations are being pushed to increase donations, yet the PA still pours money into paying imprisoned terrorists salaries instead of its own officials and corruption is as rife as ever. Donors to the PA are pouring their dollars into a big black hole.
After years of rampant corruption, violent gagging of independent Palestinian media outlets and only a chaotic appearance of democracy, the "old guard" PA has lost all credibility on the Palestinian street. This was clearly indicated by the rebellion of so many Fatah candidates in the municipal elections, standing (and winning) as independents against their own political leaders.
Abbas may go back to the UN again this year to apply for an upgrade to his current observer status. But since he has little political credit among his own people, no money to boost his economy and not even agreed borders for his dream state, an independent Palestine remains just that - a dream.
Watch the remaining municipal elections in November carefully. We may well see the practical breakup of the PA regime into semi-autonomous local councils defying edicts from Fatah Central in Ramallah. This could prove beneficial to local citizens as their towns decide their own economic relations with Israel, but fatal to the overall aims of Fatah and the PLO and a total waste of nearly twenty years of "two state" diplomacy.
Link: http://www.thecommentator.com/article/1965/is_the_palestinian_authority_colla...
Nick Gray is the Director of Christian Middle East Watch. He blogs at www.cmewonline.com and tweets at @cmew2

via calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com

Palestinian prisoners are handed millions in British aid with some being paid more than average UK worker

(dailymail.co.uk) Development Minister, has written to MP Robert Halfon, who had questioned the UK¿s role in funding these prisoners British aid money is helping to pay ‘salaries’ to Palestinian prisoners – some of them convicted terrorists –serving time in Israeli jails, according to a report.
The Palestinian Authority is paying them up to £1,957 a month – more than the average salary of a UK worker.
The Department for International Development spends around £80million a year in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, of which around £30million goes to the general budget, which funds prisoners’ allowances.
A report by watchdog organisation Palestinian Media Watch shows how Palestinian Authority legislation – introduced last year – sets out eligibility criteria for the payments, which a minister claimed were ‘social assistance’ for prisoners’ families.
This includes those serving multiple life sentences for acts of terrorism, such as the planning and directing of suicide bombings.
The minimum salary is £230 a month, for a prisoner starting his sentence, and increases to a maximum of £1,957 a month for those serving more than 30 years, many of whom have been convicted of shocking atrocities.

• Misery for UK holidaymakers as flights to and from US cancelled while New York City shuts down for Hurricane Sandy The Foreign Office and DfID have denied that the UK funds terrorism or incitement to violence in the Palestinian territories.
  Pauline Latham MP, of the International Development Select Committee said: ‘I hope that after further investigation, the DfID and the FCO can ascertain exactly how the Palestinian Authority spends aid money and put a stop to its use in detracting from any potential peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.’
  
  
  
  

  Prisoners: Palestinian prisoner allowances can go up to £1,957 a month for those serving more than 30 years (file picture)
  Alan Duncan, International Development Minister, has written to MP Robert Halfon, who had questioned the UK’s role in funding these prisoners. He said: ‘The PA operates two social assistance programmes to provide welfare payments to households who have lost their main breadwinner.
  ‘I hope you will also agree that dependent spouses or children should not be held responsible for the crimes of family members, or forced to live in poverty as a consequence.’
  Raheem Kassam, director of communications for the Henry Jackson Society, a foreign affairs think-tank in London said: 'Incitement in the Palestinian territories is a crucial issue when considering the potential for peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.
  'That Palestinian prisoners are being supported by UK taxpayer money is an absolute scandal that must be stopped.'

Sex scandal, 'Palestinian' style

'Moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen has put the kaboshes on an investigation into a sex scandal involving one of his ministers until he returns from the United Nations General Assembly in New York (where he is due to speak on Thursday). The 'Palestinians' are already accusing 'people opposed to our statehood bid' of being behind the scandal, even though Abu Mazen has supposedly promised President Obama that he would not bring up the statehood bid until after the US elections on November 6.

Mahmoud al-Aloul, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, said the scandal was part of a scheme designed to foil Abbas’s renewed statehood bid.

Ghazali quoted Abbas as telling two senior PA officials who presented him with details of the sex scandal as saying: “Close the case until I return from the US because this is a sensitive time and we are facing elections. If the public learns about it, we will lose the presidential and municipal election. We already have enough scandals and don’t need more.”

The scandal erupted after a Palestinian woman complained that Hussein Sheikh, a top Fatah official who serves as PA Civilian Affairs Minister, harassed her sexually and tried to bribe her and her husband.

The woman, who works in Sheikh’s ministry, said the minister summoned her to his office on the pretext that he wanted her to help fix a computer.

Ghazali said that the woman, who is married and has two children, spat in the minister’s face after he tried to force himself on her while the two were alone in his office.

According to Ghazali, the minister later sent her a number of SMS messages to her mobile phone in which he continued to harass her sexually.

The woman’s husband, Ahmed Abu Alam, 30, also works in the ministry and is a former commander of Fatah’s armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

Upon hearing from his wife about Sheikh’s behavior, the furious husband stormed the minister’s office carrying a pistol, but did not find him, Ghazali said.

According to the investigative journalist, Sheikh later offered the husband $10,000 and a promise of promotion for him and his wife in return for their silence.

Abu Alam said he and his wife filed a complaint against Sheikh with various PA security forces in Ramallah and members of the Fatah Central Committee, but to no avail.

He added that he also provided the security forces and Fatah leaders with evidence implicating the minister, including the text messages and the cash.

The husband said that he and his wife have since been facing a campaign of threats and intimidation to force them to withdraw their complaint.

Last week, Abu Alam and his two brothers, Nasser and Muhammad, were detained for four hours by the PA’s Military Intelligence Force in Ramallah.

Upon his release, Abu Alam went to Abbas’s office and demanded to talk to the PA president. “I was told that he had traveled to the US,” the husband said.

 The Abu Alam's have fled to Jordan. A curse on their house and Sheikh's. Heh.

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

"Palestinian Spring" unfolds: Freedom of speech suppressed on PA TV.

(mfs-theothernews.com)(PW).During a live broadcast, Palestinian Authority TV chose to censor PA citizens several times when they openly criticized the PA leadership. Palestinian Media Watch has documented that PA TV is directly controlled by Chairman Abbas' office and serves as a mouthpiece for the government.
A PA TV talk show invited Palestinians to speak during a live broadcast from Tulkarem, but when they criticized Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Fayyad and PA government ministers, the government-controlled TV station decided to silence the protests by muting the sound.Neither the PA TV moderator nor the participants were aware that their words were being censored as they continued their discussions in front of the camera.
One speaker was silenced when he addressed Abbas and Fayyad, asking where they were while Palestinians were facing increased prices and unemployment. His voice was muted from the broadcast four times while he spoke. While PA TV did not want his message heard, the audience can be seen applauding him.
Later, a woman addressed Abbas, asking him to explain why her two daughters, both with university degrees, were unable to find jobs. PA TV did not let her continue, but censored the rest of her comments.
When someone in the audience exposed the fact that PA TV was muting the criticism in the broadcast, the moderator announced "a short break with the director" of the program, promising to return. However, he only returned to inform the audience that PA TV "wanted to continue the program, but it's clear we can't."
And thus the "Palestinian Spring" unfolds live on PA TV.Hmmmm......Another Obama Admin Fav........Free speech 'Palestine Style'Read and see the full story here.

Rachel Shabi reveals the hidden truth about “superiority-complex” racist Jews

(cifwatch) Though I’ll likely never personally be rich enough to be characterized as a ‘wealthy Jewish donor’, according to Rachel Shabi I evidently have what it takes to be a “superiority-complex” racist Jew.
Shabi’s latest piece, Mitt Romney’s ‘insult the world’ tour excels on picking on the Palestinians, included this strap line:

Shabi suggests that Mitt Romney was inspired by the desire to please rich, racist Jews in suggesting that culture partly explains Israeli success and that underdevelopment in the PA may have something to do with cultural and political mores.
Indeed, per Shabi, Jews are responsible both for Palestinian failures and Mitt Romney’s racism. 
Here are the choice quotes from Shabi’s piece:
On Jewish donors/Jewish racism

“Over a £16,000-a-plate campaign fundraiser breakfast with Jewish donors in Jerusalem, Romney aired his deep thoughts on “the dramatic, stark difference in economic vitality” between the Palestinian and Israeli economies. These thoughts were obtained by reading books, he prefixed, before surmising that Israeli accomplishments were down to “at least culture and a few other things” – oh, and also, “the hand of providence”. So Romney thinks that Palestinians are screwed because Israelis have a better culture…
The presidential hopeful doubtless believes this standard-issue, superiority-complex racism – and that it’s what his donors want to hear.” [emphasis added]

Palestinians not to blame for social/economic failures

“Perhaps, when the Republican visitor noted that Palestinians were stumped by “a few other things” he was just using internationally recognised shorthand?
Maybe he’s parsing for “things” like the checkpoints, barriers and roadblocks that thwart movement of Palestinians and products – and thereby railroad any attempts to revive an economy.”
…
“In addition to those books, Romney could read any number of reports about Gaza, including from the IMF and the World Bank, which state that its crippled economy is down to Israel’s five-year blockade.”

Israeli success is not based on merit

“And he couldn’t possibly have referenced “things” without it also alluding to America’s generous aid package to Israel, the largest annual recipient of US financial assistance and whose military aid was upped just prior to Romney’s visit.”

Yes, of course, the ‘root cause’ of Israel’s security measures are clearly not related to the violent intifada which claimed over 1100 Israeli lives and maimed thousands more, but rather the hideous spite of a chosen people’s might.
The clearly ‘supremacist’ idea that Jewish culture may imbue the state with certain advantages must be defeated.
Israel’s international advantages in biotech start-ups, the percentage of its citizens with university education, the number of patents per person and scientific papers per capita - as with its democratic institutions which have weathered every political and military storm for over 64 years – are clearly connected to the largess of the indulgent West.  
Israel didn’t build it. 
We simply must not hold the terrorist group which Palestinians voted into office even minimally responsible for the situation in Gaza. The ‘H Word’ must never be uttered.  Such a simple-minded causation – between Hamas’ firing of Iranian imported rockets into Israel and the blockade – must be denied at all costs.
The deluded few which suggest that culture matters – those of us so intellectually impoverished – must invariably possess a distorted understanding of what the word “racism” means.
Those of us not endowed with a piercing intellect have misguidedly assumed that the term denotes the belief that some people are inherently or biologically inferior. Consequently, nothing they do can alter their inevitable backwardness – culture being malleable, while biology is not.
Shabi demonstrates that only the Semitic 1% haughtily insist on the role culture has played in Jewish survival (and success) throughout history, and the deleterious effects on Palestinians by theirs. 
Similarly, our false consciousness prevents us from granting Palestinians – the recipient of more than $2 billion per year from the international community - a moral pass, a furlough from critical scrutiny.
The extreme ‘right’ thoughts which haunt our political imagination must be what give rise to our outrage over the PA’s incitement and crude antisemitic hate advanced in their mosques, state-controlled media and schools.
And, it certainly has to be our reactionary values which inform a stubborn insistence that those who advocate for ‘Palestine’ should also demand that the PA create genuinely democratic institutions, a free press and independent judiciary; that Palestinians take steps to improve their human rights record towards women, gays and religious minorities. 
Overall, our supreme political pathos quite chillingly expects the same moral performance from Palestinians as they do of Israeli Jews.
Isn’t it clear?
We ‘superiority-complex’, racist Jews truly possess crazy and dangerous ideas!

Universal Muslim Economic Failure

(SultanKnish) If Romney accomplished nothing else during his Israeli visit, he did manage to offend every single Palestinian Arab terrorist group, all of whom, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP and the DFLP, issued press releases denouncing him. Their American media outlets, on a desperate gaffe hunt, seized on his statement that the GDP Per Capita differences between Israel and the territory under the control of the Palestinian Authority are the result of different values.

The official media narrative is that these differences are the results of eons of oppression, checkpoints and blockades. Fair enough. But then why does the IMF put Israel's GDP Per Capita well ahead of the oil rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia has no Israeli checkpoints, no Israeli soldiers or planes flying overhead. It has wealth literally pouring out of the ground with a fifth of the world's petroleum reserves. And yet the IMF puts it 13 places behind Israel and the World Bank puts it 8 places behind Israel. The only Muslim countries with a better GDP Per Capita rating than Israel are small monarchies drowning in oil.
The non-oil Muslim countries who are closest to Israel are Malaysia and Lebanon, 32 and 33 places behind Israel. Both countries also have sizable non-Muslim populations. Muslims make up only 50 percent of Lebanon and only 60 percent of Malaysia.
38 places below Israel is Turkey, which until recently was a secular country and actually has a statistically significant atheist population. And that's it. Below that we fall off a cliff into places like Belarus, South Africa and Grenada; all of whom still have better GDP Per Capita rates. No Muslim country without oil has a better GDP Per Capita than a Muslim country that has sizable Christian or Buddhist minorities.
What Romney didn't mention, but should have, is that the Palestinian Authority dealt yet another blow to its economy when it drove out the Christian population. Christians in the territories have traditionally made the best businessmen and the capital of the Palestinian Authority was actually started by Jordanian Christian refugees escaping Muslim persecution. And their decline follows a pattern of Christian communities across the Middle East declining and disappearing under Muslim rule.
Meanwhile Israel is burdened with 1.2 Muslims inside the Green Line, many of whom work in an unreported black economy, and account for 52 percent of national social benefits. Israel's national  unemployment rate is 5.6 percent. The Arab unemployment rate is 27 percent. Only 59 percent of Muslim men and only 19 percent of Muslim women are officially part of the workforce.  That's compared to 56 percent of Jewish women and 52 percent of Christian women.
The average Israeli family has double the monthly income of the average Arab family. Half the Arab sector officially lives in poverty. According to many NGO's this is due to racism. According to many economic statistics this is due to working for a living and then reporting your income.
The Israeli Jewish GDP is nearly three times higher than the Arab-Israeli GDP. This could be blamed on the usual scapegoat of racism, but the Israeli Arab GDP of $6,750 is actually better than the $5,900 GDP in neighboring Jordan, the $6,540 GDP in Egypt and the $5,041 GDP in Syria. This is the same range in which most non-oil Arab Muslim states are grouped and it is clear that there is no escaping it without a big petroleum reserve. Or like Lebanon with its $15,523 GDP, a whole lot of Christians to actually work for a living.
Again culture is still the determinant. Israel within the Green Line only has about 150,000 Christians and about as many Druze, and both groups perform better economically. Christian Arabs have a higher employment rate and a better rate of higher education than Muslims. 
Apart from that official 1.2 million, Israel is also responsible for the 4 million in the Palestinian Authority (some of whom overlap with that 1.2 million and some of whom are imaginary and exist only to collect benefits from international agencies) who are still Israel's responsibility, according to them and to the world, even though they also continue insisting that they want their own state.

The reason why the GDP in Palestinian areas is so terrible is because its inhabitants live in a giant welfare state. Their income comes entirely from foreign aid. They don't need an economy because the United States and the European Union are their economy. They don't need a state because the UNRWA is their state. Palestinian Arabs were already receiving 725 dollars in per capita assistance. Despite their absolutely terrible GDP, only 16 percent of their population in the West Bank lives below the poverty line. That's a better rate than that of Israeli Arabs, who don't have an entire UN agency dedicated to taking care of them, and do actually have to work for a living.
It's easy to admire Israel for what it has accomplished, but it stands out so much because of the region it's in. Singapore and Hong Kong are less remarkable because they are in a region where countries don't just give up and wait around for foreigners to come and find oil on their land or for the Mahdi to arrive. In Asia, countries make things happen for themselves. In the Middle East, if you're not Jewish or Christian, and you don't have oil, then you have economic problems.
But let's leave the Middle East and head over to Asia. India and Pakistan are divided by a GDP Per Capita difference of almost a thousand dollars. India is naturally in the lead. Within India, Muslims are at the bottom of the economic ladder. Their per capita GDP is lower, their literacy rate is lower and they perform worse than Hindus. And yet the average Indian Muslim annual income at 513 dollars is still higher than the average annual income in Pakistan at 420 dollars. This remains consistent with the higher Arab-Israeli income and lower Jordanian Arab income model meaning that Muslims in non-Muslim countries will earn less than the majority, but more than they would in a majority Muslim country.
In Africa, Muslim Somalia sits next door to Ethiopia and Kenya and its GDP is so small it can't even be registered compared to $1,093 and $1,746 for them. You might try to blame Somalia's civil war, but Rwanda, which experienced a genocide, has a $1,341 GDP. Niger with an 80 percent Muslim population and a $771 GDP sits next door to Chad with only a 53 percent Muslim population and a $1,865 GDP. Next door Cameroon has a 70 percent Christian majority and a $2,257 GDP.
Now let's head over to Europe. In Britain the myth of the hardworking Bangladeshi or Pakistani storekeeper is practically sacred. In reality 70 percent of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis live in low income households, compared to 50 percent of Africans, 30 percent of Indians and 20 percent of the natives. Bangladeshis and Pakistanis not only have dramatically higher unemployment rates than natives, but they have higher unemployment rates than Africans.
If the issue were racism, then their unemployment rates would be in line with far lower Indian unemployment rates. Instead Muslims have the worst economic record in the UK. Pakistani Muslims in the UK are three times more likely to be unemployed than Hindus. Indian Muslims are twice as likely to be unemployed as Indian Hindus.
Again this fits the same model of Muslims from non-Muslim countries being less economically inept than Muslims from majority Muslim countries. The crucial difference between minority Muslims and majority Muslims is culture. Minority Muslims do have their own culture, but no minority group can entirely escape the values of the majority culture. Arab Israelis and Indian Muslims absorb enough of the values of the majority culture to perform better than their neighbors in Jordan or Pakistan. And they even carry on these absorbed values when they move to another country.
We can see the direct consequences of those values in action. In the UK, Muslims have the highest dropout rate and lack of qualifications of any religion. They have the highest male and female unemployment rates. This isn't racism, this is Islamism.
Muslims have the highest unemployment rate in Ireland. In Belgium, Moroccans and Turks have a five times higher unemployment rate of the native population. In Australia, Muslims have twice the unemployment rate of non-Muslims and forty percent of their children live below the poverty line. Muslims also have the highest unemployment rate in Canada, 14.4 percent to a national rate of 7.2 percent.
The response to all these numbers is the usual cry of racism, but racism fails to explain why Muslims fail more comprehensively at home than they do abroad. If Muslims fail in the West Bank, then Israeli checkpoints are to blame. If they fail in Canada, Australia and Europe, then racism is to blame. But if they fail in Pakistan, Somalia and Saudi Arabia-- who is to blame?

It can't be Mitt Romney or Benjamin Netanyahu, because neither of those men run Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. The answer can't be racism, because Saudi Arabia gets everything it wants and it still fails. It can't be colonialism, because these days the Muslim world is doing the colonizing. So what's left?
Responsibility is the missing element. It's the character value without which there can be no economic success. The temptation by leftists and Muslims to respond to Romney's comments and these statistics by finding someone else to blame is revealing and damning. These statistics are only the tip of the iceberg of larger statistics about illiteracy, violence and corruption that account for Muslim economic malaise.  
The same lack of responsibility that manifests itself after a Muslim terrorist attack, when Muslims rush to position themselves as the victims, rather than dealing with the violence in their midst, also manifests itself in the economic arena and in every aspect of life. This lack of responsibility is a failure of values that cannot be escaped or ascribed to racism, checkpoints or the boogeyman.
Muslims have failed to deal with their problems and so we are left dealing with them instead. But just because the Muslim world insists on pretending that the problems aren't there or blames them on third parties does not make the problems go away.

Palestinians honor dead terrorists—Stephen M. Flatow

Dalal Mughrabi,

(NYPost) As a “goodwill gesture,” Israel last week returned the remains of 91 Palestinian suicide bombers and other terrorists. The Palestinian Authority responded by holding a “national rally” to glorify the “martyrs” and will bury them with “full military honors.”
I know, I know — sounds like the same old news from the Middle East: Israelis making one-sided concessions, Palestinians heaping praise on murderers. For most, it’s probably getting a little boring.
Not for our family. For us, it’s personal.
On April 9, 1995, a Palestinian suicide bomber attacked an Israeli bus, murdering eight passengers — including my daughter Alisa, a 20-year-old Brandeis University student visiting Israel.

AP

Dalal Mughrabi,

The killer’s body is one of those that the Palestinian Authority just got back, with “full military honors” to come.
But this is more than salt in the wounds of the Flatow family. How the Palestinians treat terrorists is the ultimate measure of their intentions toward Israel.
If the Palestinians have truly given up violence and the goal of destroying Israel, they should be treating terrorists as every civilized society does: by repudiating them, disarming them, imprisoning them and teaching their schoolchildren that terrorists are evil.
Instead, Palestinian leaders do just the opposite. The Palestinian Authority sends a special stipend to Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons; families of dead terrorists get financial benefits. Streets, summer camps and sporting events are named in honor of these killers of innocents.
And Palestinian schoolchildren are taught that terrorists are heroes. Then-Sen. Hilary Clinton called such instruction “child abuse”; she was right: They’re raising a whole generation to worship violence and death.
The week that Vice President Joe Biden visited the Palestinian Authority in 2009, the Palestinian Authority named a public square in its capital, Ramallah, after notorious terrorist Dalal Mughrabi. She was a leader of a terror group that hijacked an Israeli bus and murdered 37 passengers, including an American.
That slap in America’s face earned the Palestinian Authority just a few mild words of disapproval from the Obama administration. America’s generous financial aid to the Palestinian Authority kept on flowing.
Which brings us to the latest slap. Issa Qaraqi, the PA minister of prisoners’ affairs, announced that the rally to celebrate the return of the “91 martyrs” would be held in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ presidential compound in Ramallah, with the families of the 91 mass murderers as honored guests.
Among them will be the family of the bomber who murdered Alisa.
After that glorification of murder, the remains will be sent to their individual hometowns, for more rallies as each killer is buried with a military funeral.
Qaraqi also declared Thursday a national “day of celebration.”
President Obama has never been shy about speaking his mind when he has been upset at some Israeli policy decision. He has made sure that Israel hears his message — publicly.
Well, perhaps it’s time that the Palestinians get a message from him, too.
Maybe the president should make it clear the United States considers these Palestinian celebrations of death to be offensive, immoral and an obstacle to peace.
Do it, but not for Alisa’s memory, Mr. President.
Do it because it’s right thing, because now is the time to say: Enough.
Stephen M. Flatow lives in New Jersey.

Don't count on Obama. Those Palestinians were his first presidential handshake

The Palestinian Authority is planning to reconsider its security, political and economic agreements with Israel in the coming days, a PLO official said on Sunday

(EOZ) From Ma'an:

After exploratory talks with Israel ended without agreement, the PLO Executive Committee has agreed to take a number of measures to jolt the current stalemate. In an interview with Egyptian channel CBC on Friday, President Mahmoud Abbas said the PA was planning a "major decision" in no more than 10 days, in response to the talks' failure.

Saeb Erekat hinted telling Palestine Radio "Either there is power to the movement of Palestinians from occupation to independence, or Netanyahu has to assume [Israel's] responsibilities seriously from the river to the sea."

Report: Palestinian Authority Offered To Aid United States In Pakistan, Somalia, Iraq & Afghanistan

(ChallahHuAkbar) Al Jazeera’s Arabic website

is reporting that it has obtained documents, which shows that the Palestinian Authority offered to help the United States in countries experiencing security tensions, such as Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
In addition, the documents discuss Palestinian efforts to help media outlets tied to the Iranian opposition.
InLightPress asked Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian official reportedly referenced in the documents, whether the allegations are true. According to Erekat, they are a “fabrication and incorrect and funny at the same time.” According to Erekat, the report was aimed at derailing reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.
A Hamas official in Gaza told InLightPress that it is against intervening in foreign states, but that it would not be surprised if the Palestinian Authority did such a thing as it is already assisting Israel in some security areas.

I don't know what to believe. Do they define help as what? Do you really want their help?

Abbas Blocks Young Leadership, Ensuring Hamas Victory

Fatah leaders in the West Bank Judea and Samaria announced this week that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is their only candidate for the presidential election expected to take place in May 2012.

Fatah will never regain the confidence of a majority of Palestinians unless it paves the way for young activists to rise to power. The Palestinians are not stupid and they are not going to vote again for the same Fatah candidates they voted out in the 2006 parliamentary election. Fatah's failure to reform and inject fresh blood into its veins is a guaranteed recipe for a Hamas victory in any election.
(stonegateinstitute.org)

Egypt’s Islamic Extremists Claim Landslide Win

Israel news photo: Muslim Brotherhood

(israelnationalnews) Egypt’s two largest Islamic extremist parties claim they won nearly 70 percent of the votes in the second round of legislative elections. The Islamic parties won approximately 65 of the votes in the first round of elections last month.,

The complex elections call on eligible Egyptians to vote for party lists that will make up two-thirds of the parliament, while individual candidates run for the other third.
The Muslim Brotherhood, running under the euphemistic name Freedom and Justice, said it won 39 percent of the votes in the contest between parties. The Salafist Islam party, named Al-Nur, said it won more than 39 percent of the ballots.
There were no declared winners in the vote for individual candidates, who face a run-off on Wednesday.
The Muslim Brotherhood formerly was ordered off-limits to American officials before the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year. Realizing that anti-American and anti-Israel party would likely be the dominant force in Egypt, the Obama administration decided to “engage” the Muslim Brotherhood, and the president even spoke optimistically about it.
However, the strong showing by the Salafists is another in a long line of “surprises” to the American government, which promoted Palestinian Authority legislative elections five years ago and ended up with the Hamas terrorist organization as the ruling party. Hamas was created by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Iran is thrilled with election results.
Mahmoud Ghazlan, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, told Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, "Cairo will never allow a continuation of the Gaza blockade,” referring to Israel’s maritime embargo on Hamas-controlled Gaza to prevent more terrorists and weapons from reaching Gaza.
“Ghazlan blasted the former Egyptian regime's silence over Israel's crimes against the innocent people of the Gaza Strip, and said the new regime in Cairo will certainly pick up a new approach towards Palestine and the Palestinian issue,” the Iranian news agency reported.

Thanks Liberals and Progressives! You Obama people are swell!

'Israel released PA funds under German pressure'

Get the sub elsewhere. The Oslo agreement was broken and there is no fixing it

(jpost) German Chancellor Angela Merkel threatened Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with the halting of a German plan to deliver a submarine to Israel if the latter refused to resume the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported on Sunday.

According to the report, Israel yielded to pressure from Berlin and unfroze the funds. Immediately after, a German government official announced her country would build and pay up to one-third of the cost of a sixth Dolphin-class submarine to be delivered to the Israeli navy.
The agreement in principle to provide the Dolphin-class submarine, which foreign reports say enhances Israel’s second strike capability since it can carry nuclear warheads, comes a month after reports that Germany was reconsidering the deal because of anger at the announcement of plans to build some 1,100 housing units in the capital’s Gilo neighborhood, over the Green Line.
The German official said she did not know whether those reports were accurate. She said Germany will pay up to 135 million euros toward the submarine, which will cost between 372m. and 520m. euros.
Talks on the deal for the sub stalled last year after the Germans declined to underwrite it, as they had done with previous submarine purchases.