Billions Spent on Compensation Programs Rewarding Palestinian Attackers
Summary
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has spent over $5 billion during the past fifteen years on its controversial "Pay for Slay" program, which provides financial compensation to the families of Palestinians who are imprisoned or killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis. The United States threatened to withhold $336 million in aid to the PA unless the program was discontinued, with recent payments averaging $193,000 per terrorist across 738 recipients, totaling $142 million in the most recent disbursement. Following American pressure, the PA attempted to circumvent restrictions by establishing a supposedly independent foundation that ostensibly aids needy Palestinians, but critics argue the funds still flow exclusively to terrorists and their families. Since October 2023, the PA has designated nearly 10,000 imprisoned terrorists and 39,000 families of deceased terrorists as eligible for these payments, demonstrating the program's dramatic expansion following the Hamas-led attacks. This pattern of diverting foreign aid toward terrorism financing has persisted since the 1970s, with the PA consistently finding creative workarounds to international donor restrictions despite repeated efforts to enforce accountability.
Key Takeaways
- 1. The PA has disbursed over $5 billion in "Pay for Slay" funds over the past 15 years, rewarding violence against Israelis
- 2. The United States threatened to cut $336 million in aid unless the program was halted, prompting deceptive restructuring rather than genuine compliance
- 3. A newly created Palestinian foundation serves as a financial shell organization to disguise the continued operation of the program
- 4. Since October 2023, nearly 49,000 terrorists and their families have been declared eligible for compensation payments
- 5. Foreign aid money has been systematically diverted toward terrorism financing since the 1970s, despite repeated international donor efforts to prevent such misuse