When President Trump met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House last month, he condemned the practice of paying terrorists and their families for killing Israelis and Americans. The practice, better known as "pay for slay," was also referenced during Trump's visit to Bethlehem last week.
"President Trump emphasized the importance of making a clear commitment to preventing inflammatory rhetoric and to stopping incitement, and to continue strengthening efforts to combat terrorism. President Trump raised his concerns about payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who have committed terrorist acts, and to their families, and emphasized the need to resolve this issue," a readout of the White House meeting states.
According to a new report, the Palestinian Authority has paid terrorists and their families a whopping $1 billion over the past four years.
The Palestinian Authority has paid out some NIS 4 billion — or $1.12 billion — over the past four years to terrorists and their families, a former director general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and ex-head of the army’s intelligence and research division told a top Knesset panel on Monday.
Setting out the figures, Brig.-Gen (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the longer the period for which a Palestinian security prisoner is jailed, “the higher the salary… Anyone who has sat in prison for more than 30 years gets NIS 12,000 ($3,360) per month,” said Kuperwasser, according to the (Hebrew) NRG website. “When they’re released, they get a grant and are promised a job at the Palestinian Authority. They get a military rank that’s determined according to the number of years they’ve served in jail.”
Republicans re-introduced a bill in February, the Taylor Force Act, cutting taxpayer funding to the Palestinian government so long as payments to terrorists continue. The legislation is named after West Point graduate Taylor Force, who was stabbed and killed by a Palestinian terrorist last year.