A high-level Palestinian delegation is scheduled to travel to Washington next week to prepare for Abbas’s meeting with Trump, scheduled for May 3

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that if the Palestinians truly desire peace with Israel, they must first "come clean" and put an end to "rewarding terrorism."

During a interview with Fox News television host Sean Hannity, Netanyahu claimed that the Palestinian Authority, lead by Mahmoud Abbas, has spent much of the financial aid they receive on paying terrorist and their families at the expense of the American tax-payer.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that if the Palestinians truly desire peace with Israel, they must first "come clean" and put an end to "rewarding terrorism."

During a interview with Fox News television host Sean Hannity, Netanyahu claimed that the Palestinian Authority, lead by Mahmoud Abbas, has spent much of the financial aid they receive on paying terrorist and their families at the expense of the American tax-payer.


"I think the first test of peace is to say to them, 'Hey, you want peace? Prove it. Confront terrorism, stop rewarding terrorism, stop paying it terrorists,'" Netanyahu said from his office in Jerusalem.

"It could be more than a billion dollars that are given to terrorists," Netanyahu continued. "I'm not talking about Hamas. I'm talking about the mainline Palestinian Authority headed by the president, who is going to see (US President Donald) Trump in Washington."

A high-level Palestinian delegation is scheduled to travel to Washington next week to prepare for Abbas’s meeting with Trump, scheduled for May 3.

Netanyahu's comments came just a day after Abbas granted an interview with the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shibun, where the Palestinian leader appeared to moderate his tone over restarting peace negotiations, saying “I am ready to meet the prime minister of Israel any time in Washington under the patronage of President Trump.”

Until now, Abbas has set a number of preconditions to negotiations with Netanyahu, such as a settlement freeze, something he explicitly did not do during his interview with the Japanese newspaper.

“We hope it’s a genuine change,” a spokesperson for Netanyahu said in response.

"It has always been our position to engage in direct negotiations anytime, anywhere, with no preconditions,” said the spokesperson. “For years, Abbas has avoided negotiations, and we would welcome a change in his position.”

Netanyahu, however, currently has no plans to visit Washington next month.

Since the mid-1990s, the United States has donated more than $5 billion "in bilateral economic and non-lethal security assistance to the Palestinians," with $327.6 million coming in aid last year, according to the US Congressional Research Service, a public policy research arm of the United States Congress.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Netanyahu-If-Palestinians-want-peace-prove-it-by-halting-payments-to-terrorists-488631