BICOM

Yesterday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Monday night’s terror attack in Hebron on the administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He declared, “The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to constantly broadcast, in its official media, programs that incite against the existence of the State of Israel.” Blasting the PA for failing to condemn the “abominable and reprehensible act” Netanyahu added that, “this incitement was translated into the murder of a father who was travelling with his family to celebrate the first night of Passover.”

The Government of Israel sees Palestinian incitement against Israel – as expressed in statements by public figures, in the media and official school textbooks – as a major obstacle in the peace process. Israel accuses the PA of glorifying terrorism, rejecting Israel’s legitimacy, and opposing peaceful normalisation, thereby demonstrating the lack of Palestinian commitment towards lasting peace.

In addition to glorifying violence, Israeli officials have pointed out that the PA actually pays generous salaries to all Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails, a situation in which the graver one’s offence and the longer one’s sentence, the higher the salary.

An academic study funded by the US State Department and published in 2013 reviewed Israeli and Palestinian text books. Whilst the PA claimed that this report exonerates them, in fact it found that in 84 per cent of cases, PA text books characterise Israelis or Jews in a negative or very negative way. This compared to 49 per cent negative or very negative characterisations of Palestinians in Israeli state text books.