Controversy over Payments to Terrorists

The Palestinian Authority (PA) President, Mahmoud Abbas, is reported to have signed a decree on Monday that cancels a system of payments to Palestinian terrorists that were based on the severity of their crimes – often indicated by the length of their jail sentences.

This system of payment has been hugely controversial for years, with Israel and the USA calling for it to be abolished. But the decree still makes families of prisoners and dead terrorists eligible to receive welfare assistance, but now according to their financial needs, as with other Palestinians.

Mahmoud Abbas is said to be asking that, in exchange for this move, the United States repeals the Taylor Force Act, which cuts financial aid to the PA until it ends these payments to terrorists and their families, which have been labelled ‘pay for slay’ by the Israelis.

Abbas also wants Israel to stop deducting PA tax money equal to the amount paid to terrorists – a countermeasure implemented by Israel in 2018.

Hamas have apparently condemned the decree by Abbas, saying:

“Stopping the allocations for the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded
is an unpatriotic act, and we call for its immediate reversal,”

However, the Middle East Monitor reports that the decree issued by Abbas also says that ‘the computerised cash assistance program, its database, and its financial, local, and international allocations will be transferred from the Ministry of Social Development to the Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment.’

In other words, the PA are moving the system from a government ministry to a supposedly independent organisation. And that has led to a claim that the PA is simply changing the way it makes payments to terrorists, so as to claim it is not making the payments itself.

The motive for this change is said to be a major concern that American courts will fine the PA heavily in response to lawsuits filed by families of terror victims who accuse it of encouraging terror attacks.

This short discussion on CBN News provides a useful summary of the situation: