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Will the PA's Restructured "Pay-for-Slay" Policy Lead to Renewed U.S. Funding?

(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch - One of the most prominent features of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's legacy is the "Pay-for-Slay" policy, under which the PLO-PA has paid billions of dollars to terrorists and their families to incentivize, promote, and reward terror. In order to force the PLO-PA to abolish the policy, both Israel and the U.S. have adopted legislation. While the U.S. legislation conditioned the bulk of U.S. direct aid to the PA on the abolition of the policy, the Israeli legislation imposed direct punitive financial sanctions. Additional legislation passed in Israel and the U.S. provides victims of terror with the ability to sue the PLO-PA and hold it liable for terror attacks, based on the "Pay-for-Slay" policy. The PA responded to both the U.S. and Israeli laws by doubling down on the commitment to continue paying salaries to terrorists and their families and by implementing a number of cosmetic changes in order to hide the payments. On Feb. 10, 2025, multiple news agencies reported that the PA had decided to repeal its "Pay-for-Slay" legislation, but this is not truthful. The goals of the PLO-PA's new move were to undermine the Israeli and U.S. legislation and potentially paved the way for renewed U.S. funding to the PA. Even if the PLO-PA did indeed abolish the policy, it will still be barred from receiving direct U.S. aid as a result of its activities in the International Criminal Court (ICC). The writer, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, is director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center.
2025-03-30 00:00:00
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