Erdan Leans into Palestinians on Terror Stipends

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan castigated the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday over its payouts to terrorists and its hypocrisy in human rights issues, The Times of Israel reported.

Addressing Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour during the monthly Security Council session, Erdan asked: “Mr. Ambassador, are you not ashamed to come before the Security Council when your government is paying hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists?”

The PA has justified the payments to imprisoned terrorists and their families on the grounds that they are like any country’s welfare system that provides stipends to those in prison. Meanwhile, under pressure from the U.S., Ramallah says it is in talks with the Biden administration to reform the policy.

Erdan accused Mansour of hypocrisy for making speeches about human rights “while your police forces are beating to death real civil society activists, such as Nizar Banat, whose case was covered in global media outlets recently.

“How can you claim to represent the Palestinian people when 80 percent of Palestinians are fed up with President Abbas?” Erdan continues, referencing recent polling that showed the vast majority of Palestinians want the PA president to resign.

Erdan also criticized the Security Council for creating “a false reality in which every Palestinian claim against Israel is the most urgent issue on the agenda, while the terror and destruction of Iran and its proxies throughout the region are almost an afterthought.”

He notes the Security Council’s “absurd” decision to invite Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi, who formerly served as a member of the PLO Executive Committee, to address the body as a member of Palestinian civil society.

“What’s next? Will you invite [former Iranian president] Hassan Rouhani and [former foreign minister] Javad Zarif as representatives of Iranian civil society?” Erdan scoffed.