Israel tries to stop EU aid for Palestinians

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, is trying to stop EU aid from ending up in the hands of Palestinian prisoners or their families, under the pretext that they are “terrorists” or “families of terrorists”, Israel Hayom reported on Friday.

According to the online newspaper, the Zionist Union MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, a member of the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet, is mobilising support for the project; she has received the blessing of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and six other MKs from various factions so far.

“Figures we have collected show that every month, some €4.5 million in EU funds are divided among those who carried out terrorist attacks against Israel and the families of terrorists,” Nahmias-Verbin told Israel Hayom.

It is hard to convince Israelis – on the Right or the Left – that the Palestinians want to promote the peace process as long as donations from countries throughout the world, especially Europe, are transferred to murderers rather than benefiting the Palestinian population.

The Israeli MK, the newspaper said, had sent a letter to the new EU Ambassador to Israel, Emmanuel Joffre, briefing him about her project and its goals. She also asked for a meeting along with other MKs to discuss the issue.

Read: US and EU ‘threaten’ to suspend PA security aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously asked the Palestinian Authority to stop paying former prisoners and families of current prisoners, claiming that they are terrorists or families of terrorists.

Critics of the Israeli occupation have pointed out that while Israel calls Palestinian resistance fighters “terrorists” its government has recently rewarded an Israeli soldier who shot dead an already wounded, motionless Palestinian in Hebron.