Today, Sunday, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation of the Israeli Knesset approved a draft law to seize the allocations of the families of martyrs and Palestinian prisoners held within the clearance funds.

Member of Knesset from the Religious Zionism Party, Zvi Sukkot, the initiator of the bill, said that if the bill is passed, the money that we are currently deducting from the Palestinian Authority’s funds and which it pays to the families of prisoners and martyrs, “will immediately enter the state treasury.”

Zvi Sukkot indicated that the talk is about about 3 billion shekels that will enter the Israeli treasury immediately, and about 60 million shekels every month “if the Palestinian Authority insists on continuing to pay salaries” to the families of prisoners and martyrs.

The draft law seeks to set timelines and stipulates that after half a year from the date of publication of the proposed law, if the Palestinian Authority continues to pay funds, these funds will be seized for the benefit of the state treasury (Israel), and the Accountant General will manage them for the benefit of the victims.

Israel withheld Palestinian clearance funds after the leadership, represented by President Mahmoud Abbas, refused to stop paying allowances to the families of martyrs and prisoners. He confirmed in several statements that “if we had a single penny left, we would spend it to the families of martyrs and prisoners.”