Wiesenthal Center Presses for Bi-Partisan Congressional Support for Legislation Tying Funding of Palestinian Authority to Halting Payments to Terrorists and Their Families

July 5, 2017

“There can be no talk of a two-state solution when the official entity representing one side continues to fund and fuel a culture of death and hatred,” says Center official

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is continuing its call for bi-partisan Congressional support to pass the Taylor Force Act (HR1164), critical legislation that would curtail US funding for the Palestinian Authority until it stops its payments to terrorists and their families.

As reported by Palestinian Media Watch, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has doubled down on his refusal to stop these payments, saying on the official Fatah Facebook page on Sunday that, “Even if I will have to leave my position, I will not compromise on the salary (rawatib) of a Martyr (Shahid) or a prisoner, as I am the president of the entire Palestinian people, including the prisoners, the Martyrs, the injured, the expelled, and the uprooted.”

Photo: Rabbi Cooper (L) during an earlier meeting with Taylor Force Act sponsor, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO)

"The Simon Wiesenthal Center reiterates its call for strong bi-partisan support for Congressional legislation, The Taylor Force Act linking future US taxpayer funding of the PA to its stopping to reward murderers of Israelis with financial incentives,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO. “We further commend the non-partisan initiative in Israel’s Knesset led by former Major General MK Elazar Stern to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority that match PA expenditures to Palestinian terrorists and their families,” he added.

“There can be no talk of a two-state solution when the official entity representing one side continues to fund and fuel a culture of death and hatred,” Cooper concluded.


For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036. Join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).