The vicious circle of money and violence

Last fall, The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel called on Prime Minister Olmert to prevent the transfer of armored personnel carriers (APCs) to the Palestinian Authority. Despite their objections, Olmert completed the transfer.

Today, many agree that it is just a matter of time before those weapons, which the PA received with the consent of the Israeli government, to "fight terrorism" fall into the hands of Hamas. The fate of the PA is no longer certain nor is the subsequent reaction of its "loyal" forces when the next round of hostilities begins.

Fifty Palestinian APCs could reasonably cause great harm to IDF bases and soldiers, Jewish civilians, children on school buses, and the old jeeps used by army patrols in Judea and Samaria. A single APC breaking through a checkpoint or the security fence would inflict unspeakable harm.

While the PA, headed by Mohammed Abbas, continues to pay the salaries of the members of the Palestinian Parliament, Hamas holds a parliamentary majority. The PA also pays the salaries of the members of the Hamas government, such as Ismail Haniya and Mahmud Az-Zahar, and to thousands of security personnel in Gaza, who are technically employed by the PA, but are controlled by Hamas.

Hamas has recently stated once again that it will never acknowledge the State of Israel. In the meantime Israel continues to transfer funds to the government of the Gaza Strip. The money is supposed to be used to build infrastructure, but it is an open secret that that money is going directly into the pockets of influential bureaucrats, who in turn use some of it to pay for rockets and other weapons which will be used against Israeli civilians.