JERUSALEM—The president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has reportedly given in to pressure from the Trump administration by declaring the end of its controversial program “pay for slay,” which offers financial support to Palestinian terrorists and their families.
There are, however, conflicting reports about whether the PA ended the program or is trying to hoodwink the Trump administration.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Oren Marmorstein, issued a statement on X stating, “This appears to be a new tactic of deceit by the Palestinian Authority, as they plan to uphold the payments to terrorists and their families through different financial channels.”
“It seems that the individuals who were previously benefiting from the PA’s ‘pay for slay’ initiative will still receive the same payments, but now through a ‘foundation’ overseen by Abbas, as opposed to a ministry under his control.”
Fredman added, “It remains to be seen whether Abbas truly ends the pay for slay payments, as well as the virulent terror incitement and antisemitism in PA media, schools and summer camps.”
He said the PA announced that the payments to convicted terrorists are moving from the Ministry of Social Development to an independent Palestinian National Economic Empowerment Foundation. The head of the foundation’s board is the minister of social development. The foundation’s general director is also apparently an employee of the Ministry of Social Development, according to her LinkedIn profile. The linkage suggests that the foundation is closely tied to the PA.
Buses carrying Palestinian prisoners released from an Israeli prison as part of a ceasefire agreement are greeted in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Fox News Digital, “We will rejoice when the PA stops financially rewarding Palestinian terrorists for murdering and injuring Israelis. Abbas’ statement makes no such commitment. Mr. Abbas, you either support and abet terrorism or oppose and help end it.”
The Times of Israel reported that PA officials informed the incoming Trump administration about its plan to pull the plug on the “pay to slay” program.
The thinking behind the PA’s decision is to curry favor with the Trump administration and avoid the strained relations that existed during the first Trump presidency. After Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city in 2017, Abbas boycotted the Trump administration.
The Times of Israel wrote that Monday’s “decree is Ramallah’s latest effort to improve ties with Washington and amounts to a major victory for Trump, who managed to secure a concession from the PA that repeated U.S. administrations had worked to bring about.”
A security prisoner with his hands tied at a prison in Giv’at Ze’ev, Aug 28, 2024. (Gideon Markowicz/TPS-IL)
The PA is based in Ramallah in the West Bank (known in Israel as the biblical region of Judea and Samaria).
Fox News Digital reported after a late 2023 deal involving the exchange of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel for the release of Israeli civilians held by Hamas in Gaza that the freed terrorists would receive monthly payments ranging from approximately $535 to $668 for Jerusalem residents.
Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), summed up a recent trend of foreign leaders caving to the Trump administration. “I think it speaks to the Trump effect. Foreign leaders fear crossing the president because he knows how to engage in coercive diplomacy, and it produces outcomes which advance U.S. interests like this. Iran and other countries are watching very carefully how the president pressures other governments, and this will shape their decision-making. Thus far, Tehran has been more risk-averse since President Trump has been in office,” he told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital questions to the Palestinian Authority were not answered.
