The family of the Palestinian who stabbed a 13-year-old to death in her bedroom is eligible for $350 a month from a Palestinian fund for “martyrs”.
Thirteen-year-old Hallel Yaffe Ariel was murdered while she was sleeping after 19-year-old Mohammad Tra'ayra jumped the settlement fence and entered her home last month.
Tra'ayra was shot and killed at the scene, making his family eligible for the stipend. Israel is campaigning against such funds, arguing that giving money to the families of terrorists rewards their attacks and promotes violence.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the payments “an incentive for murder,” and a government spokesman announced that as of next month, Israel will cut the tax funds it collects for the Palestinian Authority, deducting the amount of the stipends.
“Terror has become a comfortable business for families,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon. “This encourages violence.”
The “martyrs’ fund” and another fund supporting families of Palestinians imprisoned for “anti-Israel” activities, such as stone throwing and shooting attacks, are nominally run by the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), but are funded by the Palestinian Authority.
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