PM to Abbas: Stop paying terrorists, fire aides who incite violence
In video message to PA president, Netanyahu urges him to ‘teach tolerance, not terror,’ because ‘advocating genocide is not consistent with peace’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday urged PA President Mahmoud Abbas to stop supporting terrorists financially, fire Palestinian officials who openly encourage the murder of Israeli Jews, and disavow ceremonies honoring killers.
In a video posted on YouTube with Arabic subtitles, the prime minister said: “Since over the past several years, you refused to meet me and sit down and negotiate peace, I hope you’ll hear this message.”
He singled out the aide to Abbas and a Fatah Central Committee member who last month told the Palestinian news site Donia al-Watan that, “Wherever you find an Israeli, slit his throat.”
“First, your adviser, Sultan Abu al-Einein, recently called to slit the throat of every Israeli. Three days later, a Palestinian terrorist turned these words into action when he slit the throat of a 13-year-old beautiful girl, Hallel Yaffa Ariel, as she slept. She was a little, innocent girl. She didn’t deserve this,” the prime minister said in a message apparently recorded in his office in Jerusalem.
“I ask that you fire this adviser because advocating genocide is not consistent with peace.”
He also highlighted the recent praise from Abbas’s Fatah party for a 1972 terror attack at Lod (later Ben Gurion) Airport, in which 24 people — eight Israelis and 16 tourists — were killed when members of the Japanese Red Army recruited by a Palestinian terrorist group opened fire and hurled grenades.
“[Y]our party recently praised a terrorist on Facebook who murdered 24 civilians, innocent Israelis in cold blood,” Netanyahu said. “I ask that you to pick up the phone and instruct your party’s social media manager to stop praising mass murderers. Impressionable children read these posts. They should be taught harmony, not hate. Such words seriously harm the chances of peace.”
Fatah marked the anniversary of the attack in May, posting images of the attackers on Facebook, with an accompanying message reading: “A thousand greetings to the Japanese fighter and comrade Kozo Okamoto, the hero of the Lod airport operation.”
The prime minister similarly lambasted plans to commemorate a 1975 bombing in Jerusalem, in which a bomb-laden refrigerator killed 15 people in Zion Square.
“[N]ext week the Palestinian Authority will dedicate a monument to Abu Sukar. Abu Sukar murdered 15 people by detonating a refrigerator filled with explosives on a busy Jerusalem street,” he said. “Rather than dedicate a statue to a mass-murderer, I ask that you consider honoring a champion of co-existence. This will help educate future generations to love peace over war, compassion over violence. It will also help convince Israelis that they have a true partner for peace.”
Finally, Netanyahu slammed the Palestine Liberation Organization for its ongoing financial support for the families of terrorists killed while carrying out attacks. This issue has become a source of pressure for the PA, which provides the money the PLO doles out to the families. Israel has said that it will from next month deduct the sums given to the families of terrorists from monthly transfers of taxes and customs it collects on behalf of the Palestinians, while both the US and Norway have expressed concern at the practice.
“[T]he PLO currently pays a monthly salary to anyone who murders Jews,” Netanyahu said. “This money provides direct incentive to commit terror. I ask that you stop paying murderers and instead use this money to fund co-existence education, teach tolerance not terror.”
The prime minister concluded by making a plea for peace, a goal he said was working “tirelessly” toward, and urged Abbas to do the same, for the sake of future generations on both sides.
“[E]very Israeli and Palestinian child deserves a life of hope, of tranquility and opportunity,” Netanyahu said. “I will continue to work tirelessly for peace. It’s time that you join this effort.”
