by Uri Heitner
The bill is a step in the right direction, first and foremost from a moral perspective
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation last week approved legislation submitted by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman to prevent the Palestinian Authority from paying terrorists and
their relatives. Should the bill become law, Israel would deduct the
salaries the PA pays terrorists and their families from the tax funds
collected by Israel for the PA.
The bill is a step in the right direction,
first and foremost from a moral perspective – in that it highlights the
absurd reality in which Israel and the free world are helping the PA at
the same time that it finances terrorists. The proposal also makes it
clear we must hit them where it hurts: in their pockets.
The problem is that, from a practical
perspective, the legislation does not provide a real solution to the
problem. According to the wording of the bill, "The ministerial
committee will have the authority to decide not to deduct the amount
determined in the report, or decide on deducting a smaller amount as
well as to cancel the past deduction of funds at any time … for special
reasons of national security and foreign relations."
No government would want to tie its own
hands, and rightly so. Nevertheless, in this instance, it seems the
wording of the proposed legislation will prevent the implementation of
the law, and the deduction will be symbolic, if at all.
Deducting the money the PA pays to support
terrorists from the tax funds it transfers to Ramallah will not make the
PA end its support for terrorism. If anything, the cuts will be felt in
areas like welfare and health, and the Palestinian propaganda will
present Israel as instigating a humanitarian crisis. We recently
witnessed as much in the "humanitarian disaster" campaign in the Gaza
Strip, when the United States announced it was contemplating ending its
support for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which has responsibility
for aid to Palestinian refugees. This propaganda campaign will result in
major international pressure on Israel, which could bring the cabinet
to fold.
Efforts to end the funding of terrorism,
then, should be fought by other means. The "Starving Funds of Terror"
campaign, headed by security expert Eitan Rilov, is working with the
brightest of minds in the field in Israel and around the world. It
offers a model that while relatively low-cost could prove very
effective. According to the model, a "tsunami" of personal lawsuits
would be filed for every one of the tens of thousands of terror victims
in Israel. The lawsuits would be filed against every individual that
played a role in these attacks, from planning to perpetration. An
intelligence center would be established that would assist the victims
by gathering evidence tying the terrorists and their supporters to the
attacks. Legal and economic barriers to the lawsuits' success would be
removed, including by the full government funding of plaintiff expenses.
One lawsuit filed this year, which relied
heavily on the campaign's model, resulted in a ruling granting the
plaintiff 62 million shekels ($18 million) in compensation from those
responsible for the attack. If we act wisely and multiply the amount by
the terror victims, it would be enough to bring about the collapse of
the terror network. If an effective economic campaign is added to the
military and diplomatic war, it would constitute a deathblow to
terrorism.
Uri Heitner
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/starve-terrorists-of-funding/
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