The Palestinian Authority has just raised the salary of the terrorist who prepared the suicide belt for the bombing attack in Jerusalem’s Café Hillel on September 9, 2003, Palestinian Media Watch reported.
The attack, which took place 16 years ago Monday, resulted in the murder of seven people and the injury of 57. It occurred hours after another suicide bombing attack at a bus stop near the Assaf Harofeh Hospital and the Tzrifin military base, in which nine people were killed and 18 wounded.
Since the attacks, the PA has paid 3,248,900 shekels in financial rewards to the Hamas terrorists who carried them out, according to PMW.
Specifically, the PA just raised the salaries of the two terrorists who prepared the suicide belts to from NIS 6,000 to 7,000 shekels/month.
“Similar to an employee of any company that receives a raise after a certain period of employment – following PA law – these two terrorists received a salary increase for having completed 15 years in prison,” explained Maurice Hirsch, head of legal strategies at PMW.
The terrorists were arrested in July and August 2004.
Among the victims of the Café Hillel attack in Jerusalem were Dr. David Applebaum and his daughter Nava, who was to be married the day after the attack. David was American-born and served as head of the emergency room and trauma services of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. Shortly before the attack, he participated in a symposium where he taught terror-trauma procedures to medical professionals.
“According to PMW’s calculations following the PA’s own pay scale, the PA has, to date, paid the six terrorists who were arrested and imprisoned for their roles in the attacks, a total of 2,892,500 shekels,” Hirsch explained. “In addition to the monthly salaries it pays to the imprisoned terrorists, the PA has also paid the families of the two suicide bombers – so-called “Martyrs” – a total of 356,400 shekels since the attacks.
“Simply because the terrorists blew themselves up to kill Jews, each family has so far received 178,200 shekels,” he said.The law guaranteeing terrorist prisoners a monthly salary was adopted by the authority in 2004. PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has twice approved considerable salary hikes for terrorist prisoners. In 2006, Abbas approved the regulations that codified the monthly salary payments paid by the PA, and a rise in those salaries. In 2010, he approved an additional salary hike for them, including a 300% rise, from NIS 4,000 to 12,000/month for prisoners having served more than 30 years in prison.
Earlier this year, Israel implemented the “Pay-for-Slay” Law that instructs the state to deduct and freeze the amount of money the PA pays in salaries to imprisoned terrorists and families of “martyrs” from the tax money it collects for the authority. The law was passed last July and was approved for implementation by Israel’s security cabinet this year. In 2019, the cabinet is withholding approximately $138 million.