A Senior Palestinian Authority official has rejected any thought of ceasing payments to Palestinian terrorists in prison, calling Trump’s request to Abbas “crazy”.

Nabil Sha’ath, who is the senior official on foreign affairs to Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, went on to say, “Can we demand that the Israeli government stop paying the soldiers of the Israeli army?”

This is a worrying statement. The PA clearly see Palestinian terrorists, who attack and kill innocent Israeli civilians, as being Palestinian “soldiers”. Their payments to them, to the tune of over $300 million annually, backs up that assumption.

President Donald Trump raised the issue of terrorist funding when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas visited him at the White House this week.

During a joint press conference on Wednesday, Abbas claimed Palestinian children are raised in a “culture of peace.”

“I affirm to you that we are raising our youth, our children, our grandchildren in a culture of peace,” Abbas said, notwithstanding the anti-Israel hate and incitement to violence that exists in Palestinian schools, media, and cultural events.

It is reported that President Trump on Friday deleted a tweet that said his meeting with Mahmoud Abbas was an “honour”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completely dismissed Abbas’ remarks while meeting on Thursday with his Romanian counterpart, Sorin Grindeanu.

“I heard President Abbas yesterday say that Palestinians teach their children peace,” said Netanyahu. “That’s unfortunately not true.”

“They name their schools after mass murderers of Israelis and they pay terrorists, but I hope that it’s possible to achieve a change and to pursue a genuine peace,” Netanyahu continued. “This is something Israel is always ready for. I’m always ready for genuine peace.”

Netanyahu also expressed his aspiration to work with Trump on achieving a final peace agreement.

“I look forward to discussing with President Trump the best ways to advance peace,” Netanyahu noted. “This is something we fervently share with the President.”