The Palestinian Authority, responsible for governing a large piece of territory in the Middle East, long has run its government operations with substantial financial support from other nations.
In the range of hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
And as part of the agreements that provide that funding, it is required to publish its budgets and other financial reports.
Only now it isn’t.
The report is from Palestinian Media Watch, which is reporting the move is, “In an effort to hide its practices and prevent any external scrutiny.”
The move actually is that the “PA has blocked access to all the financial reports it used to publish. Since 2008, as part of an agreement to receive funding from the World Bank, the Palestinian Authority has been required to publish a range of financial documents, including its annual budget and monthly budget performance reports,” the PMW report revealed.
“While the PA temporarily honored the commitment to publish its annual budget, it has not done so since 2019. In contrast, with the exception of a few minor incidents (exposed by Palestinian Media Watch and then rectified), the PA had been relatively meticulous in publishing its monthly budget performance reports,” PMW reported.
The report said the last PA budget performance report was dated January 2022, but now “even this option has been blocked.”
The watchdog group explained the action came “after PMW used the reports to demonstrate how the PA spent 841 million shekels/$270.75 million, in 2021 alone, paying financial rewards to imprisoned terrorists, released terrorists, wounded terrorists, and the families of dead terrorists.”
That’s the PA’s well-known “pay-for-slay” program that rewards those terrorists who attack and/or kill innocent civilians, including Israelis and Americans. They or their families are paid a monthly salary if they go to prison. If they commit suicide during their terrorism, their families are given that monthly payment.
America’s Congress adopted the Taylor Force Act, named after PA terror victim American Taylor Force, several years ago halting funding for the PA as long as that “pay-for-slay” spending was still alive, but Joe Biden resumed funding the PA as soon as he took office, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in what the New York Post described as “end-running” the federal law.
PMW continued, “Amazingly, while the PA is taking active steps to prevent any semblance of financial transparency, PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh is holding high-level meetings with UN and other officials in preparation for the upcoming gathering of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC – An international group of donors that coordinates aid to the PA).”
The PA also announced it had approved a new budget totaling nearly $5 billion that includes a $558 million deficit – money it is counting on foreign governments to give it.
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This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
