Merkel’s CDU rejects freezing funds to Palestinian terrorists

Members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union Party in Hamburg voted down a motion Saturday to stop publicly funding the PA’s payments to terrorists who have murdered or injured Israelis, and financial aid to their families.

According to the motion titled “Freeze Aid to the Palestinian Authority,” the “Palestinian Authority has for years already paid the families of Palestinian terrorists… and with the payments, the PA knowingly and willingly supports terror against Israel and makes this a worthy financial business.”

The motion said as long as the PA does not stop these payments, Germany and the EU should not provide financial aid to the PA, which is controlled by Mahmoud Abbas.

Bild journalist Timo Lokoschat first reported on his Twitter feed about the rejected motion.

The motion noted that the families of convicted Palestinian terrorists receive payments ranging from $300 to $3,000 a month, depending on the terrorist’s criminal conviction.

Critics of the so-called “martyr” payments say the Palestinians incentivize terrorism with these funds, and Europe enables the terrorism with financial aid to the PA.

The latest anti-Israel blow from Merkel’s party came on the heels of revelations by The Jerusalem Post that Merkel waged a campaign to convince Central and Eastern European countries to not relocate their embassies to Jerusalem. Merkel’s government also supported eight anti-Israel resolutions at the UN and is working on a financial mechanism to circumvent US sanctions against Iran.