The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has called for sanctions to be restored on Iran, following reports that Iran, which will soon be awash with billions of dollars in unfrozen assets and sanctions relief, is offering cash bonuses to Palestinian terrorists who murder Jews.
Mohammad Fateh, Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon, said that Tehran will give $7,000 to families of “martyrs of the Intifada in occupied Jerusalem” and a further “$30,000 to every family whose home the occupation has demolished for the participation of one of its sons [in terrorist acts targeting Israelis].”
This offer of Iranian rewards for murdering Israelis comes against the background of the so-called ‘stabbing Intifada,’ in which Palestinian Arabs in recent months have launched unpredictable, random attacks with knives in Israeli streets and shopping malls. The attacks commenced last September when Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas incited Palestinians to defend the mosques atop Jerusalem’s Temple Mount from fictitious Jewish assaults. Thirty-two Israelis have been murdered thus far in these attacks.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “We now know that we were right to insist, even before the Iran nuclear deal was signed last year in Vienna, that one of its most serious consequences would be Iran’s massive increased spending on armaments, terrorism and aggression. Palestinian public opinion, bolstered by a steady diet of incitement to hatred and murder of Jews in the Palestinian Authority – and Hamas-controlled media, treat attacks on individual Jews, including women, children and the elderly, as heroic, patriotic and devout acts of jihad.
“Thus, since the nuclear deal was signed, Iran has announced a 32% increase in military spending. It is seeking to purchase Russian Sukhoi-30 warplanes.
“Iran is also now seeking to purchase new anti-aircraft defense systems, in particular, the S-300 missile system from Russia.
“With the deal’s massive financial windfall in the offing, Iran has significantly increased its financial support for the largest terror groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. Iranian money has also enabled Hezbollah to obtain highly developed new armaments previously beyond its means and to dispatch thousands of its fighters to Syria to bolster the Assad regime in its battle with Sunni jihadists.
“As Syria analyst Avi Isacharoff notes, ‘Today, Iran is the main, and likely only, power attempting to build terror cells to fight Israel on the Syrian Golan Heights, in areas under Assad’s control.’
“Now we know that each time a Palestinian terrorist slits the throat of a Jewish baby in a family home, or stabs to death an Israeli pedestrian, or drives a car into a group of Jews at a bus stop, Iran will be there, offering cash bonuses to the terrorists’ families.
“This is pure evil –– and the Iran nuclear agreement has facilitated it.
“President Obama assured everyone that this nuclear deal would not only stop Iran moving towards becoming a break-out nuclear power, but that it would also enable Iran to become a responsible power that plays a constructive role in the Middle East. The reverse is true.
“The time has come for the Obama Administration and the Congress to admit that they were mistaken to advocate and approve this nuclear deal and to reimpose sanctions on Iran.”