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How Will We Know the PA Has Ended the "Pay-for-Slay" Policy?

(Jerusalem Post) Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch - A recent report quoting Israeli security sources attributed a reduction in terror in the West Bank to more stringent prison conditions. "If, in the past, we saw young Palestinians entering Israeli prisons to receive stipends from the Palestinian Authority while enjoying good conditions - meals, showers, and academic studies - today, the conditions in security prisons...are harsh. Terrorists are reconsidering their course of action and fear imprisonment." As part of the PA's "Pay-for-Slay" policy, every Palestinian terrorist arrested by Israel is paid a monthly salary, which has two main components. One part is paid directly by the Authority to the terrorist and his family, with salary increases over time spent in prison. The second part includes NIS 400 per month, deposited by the PA every six months into the prisoner's account for purchasing items in the prison canteen and additional clothing. Another central part of the "Pay-for-Slay" policy are PA-PLO payments to wounded terrorists and the families of dead terrorists. In addition to the imprisoned terrorists and released terrorists, there are an additional 40,000 families of dead terrorists and tens of thousands of wounded terrorists who also receive payments. A 2018 Israeli law imposed punitive measures on the PA for its "Pay-for-Slay" program. Since its first implementation in 2019, Israel has deducted close to NIS 4 billion - a sum equivalent to the PA payments to the terrorists in 2018 through 2024 - from the taxes Israel collects and transfers to the Authority under the Oslo Accords. In February 2025, the PA announced what it claimed was the abolition of the "Pay-for-Slay" policy. However, this was a hoax to mislead the international community. The only way to judge whether the PA has indeed halted these payments will be to assess the quiet on the Palestinian street. When the families of the terrorists, who have suddenly lost their primary source of income, take, en masse, to the streets to demonstrate against the PA, we will know that the PA has truly stopped the payments. The writer, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, is director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
2025-05-29 00:00:00
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