JERUSALEM – In a bold move to renew their hostile image in Washington, Palestinians are laying the groundwork for overseeing one of their most beloved but controversial systems, officials say: compensation for those who spend time in Israeli jails, including violent attacks.
The policy, which critics call “paying for the killings,” has long been hailed by Israel and its supporters as promoting terrorism because it assures attackers that their dependents will be well cared for. And because payments are largely based on the length of a prison sentence, critics say the most heinous crimes get the most compensation.
Critically blaming the system, Congress repeatedly passed legislation to reduce the amount of that payment to the Palestinians. Payments were cited by the Trump administration when it cut funding and took other punitive measures against Palestinians starting in 2018.
However, Palestinian officials now eager to make a fresh start with the incoming Biden administration – and to reverse those punitive measures – are following the advice of sympathetic Democrats who have repeatedly warned that without ending payments, it would be impossible. No heavy training on their behalf by the new administration.
Qadri Abu Bakr, chairman of the Palestinian Authority’s Prisoner Affairs Commission, said the proposal, if wound up in Ramallah, would give families of Palestinian prisoners a leeway on how long they would serve sentences based on their financial needs.
“Economic need should serve as a basis,” Mr Abu Bakr said in a phone interview. “A lone man should not be earning like anyone with a family.”
The plan, which has not been publicly announced, is the latest in a series of activities in which Palestinians are trying to resume their international relations. On Tuesday, they were relieved of widespread diplomatic pressure and resumed cooperation with Israel on security and civil affairs after a six-month boycott. And on Wednesday, they said they had returned their envoys to the UAE and Bahrain after recalling them in protest of the countries’ normalization agreement with Israel.
Details of the proposed changes to the prisoner payment system have not been finalized, Mr Abu Bakr said, and would require the approval of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
It is not yet clear whether strong critics of the system will be satisfied if inmates continue to be paid after linking payments from crime.
But the proposal is certain to increase intense pressure from many Palestinians, who have long been revered as heroes and freedom fighters against the half-century-old military occupation.
The situation of prisoners on Palestinian streets may be the most emotionally charged issue: one of the largest protests in the West Bank in recent years was in support of prisoners on hunger strike in 2017. In May, when some Palestinian banks complied, gunmen opened fire on several branches of banks, preventing them from distributing payments to families of prisoners with Israeli military orders.
Palestinians have paid Israeli prisoners for decades, defending them as compensation for an unjust military justice system, and providing income to their families who have lost their primary breadwinners.
Under the current system, the Palestinian Authority pays large sums of money to inmates who have spent a long time in prison, paying very little attention to the economic welfare of their families. For example, a person who has spent 35 years in prison can earn thousands of dollars a month; Four years in prison can get someone hundreds.
Former Minister of Prisoner Affairs Ashraf al-Ajrami said he fully expects people to “respond angrily” to the proposed changes. But he acknowledged that the Palestinian Authority had been politically motivated to change.
Asked about the plan, relatives of the inmates expressed distrust and dislike.
“This is 100 percent unacceptable and shameful,” said Kasam Bargauti, the son of Marwan Bargauti, who was convicted of five counts of murder by Israel and serving multiple life sentences.
“Prisoners are not an issue of social welfare,” he added. “People are paid more to spend more time in prison to acknowledge their sacrifices: the more time you spend behind bars, the more your society values.”
Officials said they also plan to require declared prisoners to take public sector jobs. Mr Abu Bakr said how many ex-prisoners are currently paid for a monthly pension to sit idle.
“We should not pay people for doing nothing,” he said, adding that a questionnaire about his job choices had been distributed to former inmates by his commission. “They should work for them.”
Officials said they also plan to pay the families of the attackers and others killed by the Israelis – another extremely sensitive issue among the Palestinian people, who identify them as martyrs. Officials said the Palestinians wanted to start building strictly with the financial need for this money, details of how they would do so remained unclear.
The details will vary. Israelis, who have been hurting on payments for years, said they should be sure the changes were more than cosmetic.
“They’ve finally realized they have to do something,” said Yossi Coopervasser, a retired general in the military’s intelligence service, one of the most outspoken speakers on the payroll. “It’s a good thing. But we need to be careful. I’m still skeptical. “
And some critics consider any payment to the families of prisoners too high.
“A terrorist needs to know that when he participates in terrorism, his family will not receive any money from the Palestinian Authority because he has entered an Israeli prison,” said Likud MLA, Avi Dicher.
Since the beginning of last year, Israel has been pressuring Palestinians to stop paying more than million 100 million a month in taxes on their behalf.
The Palestinians were urged about two months ago about talks to end the system, some involved said. Nicole Mladenov, the UN ambassador to the Middle East, and diplomats from Norway and Germany, were described as helping to suppress the Palestinians.
As Biden’s victory seemed more likely, Washington think tanks held numerous zoom calls with Palestinian officials, explaining to Democrats why the payment system needed to end if the Palestinians had any hope of a presidential-election to undo Trump. Administration’s move – Trump to reopen the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington, as Mr. Trump closed the shutters.
Mr Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, have pledged to restore at least some assistance and reopen the diplomatic mission.
But as a matter of fact, participants in the calls told Palestinians that the Biden administration – which had little bandwidth for the Middle East and that every part of its political capital needed a husband – could not do much for them unless they “compensated for the killing.” Was abolished. An act of Congress requires that the system be reformed before most aid can be restored.
A State Department official said the United States “strongly condemns the practice by the Palestinian Authority of paying terrorists or their families, and welcomes its immediate termination.”
Nimrod Novik, a former aide to Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a longtime advocate for a two-state solution, said Palestinian leaders were easily persuaded. But for them to come up with a formula that would satisfy the scrutiny of both sides of the conflict, and then to survive the expected backlash from the Palestinians, is to figure out how to “put bulletproof waste around it”. Public.
Like others who feared popular dissent, Mr. Novik now questioned the wisdom of discussing the proposal in public.
“The way to sell is if it comes in a package,” Mr Novik said, as if in exchange for some concrete action by the incoming Biden administration. “Now, as a down payment for goodwill, he is in solitude. Once it comes into the public domain, then the price will be paid. “
Lara Jacks contributed to the report from Washington.
