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…to put an end to the Palestinian “Pay to Slay” policy.
We need a DOGE office in Ramallah to stop the PA’s Pay to Slay policy.
It’s time to establish a DOGE office to oversee the Palestinian Authority budget, particularly the 7% of the PA’s budget—$133 million—that was transferred last year to payments for terrorists and their families, in what is dubbed “Pay for Slay.”
The criteria are simple and clear: the more Israelis you kill, the longer your prison sentence, the higher the payment you receive.
An Israeli law that deducts from PA tax transfers the amount allocated to terrorists has put significant financial pressure on the PA, as have legal claims filed in the United States.
In February, the PA confirmed that it will end the practice as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, with its president Mahmoud Abbas revoking the law that put the scheme in place. But this was a trick, a lie.
The PA is attempting to bypass this by establishing a new fund called the “Economic Empowerment Fund,” an ostensibly independent entity designed to support the population and distribute money based on “social considerations” a euphemism for the length of prison sentences for captured Palestinian terrorists sitting in Israeli prisons.
On February 10, 2025, the Al-Arabiya news site reported that PA President Mahmoud Abbas had signed a decree transferring prisoner payments to this new fund, claiming that “the purpose of the decree is to strengthen the PA’s standing in international institutions and secure economic assistance.”
In other words, to lie and deceive the world.
PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa confirmed in an interview at the Munich Security Conference on February 16, 2025, that payments would continue, stating: “The PA will amend its laws and pay salaries to terrorists in a different way—based on social needs rather than the previous system.” He added: “This step is intended to protect prisoners’ families while ensuring that no one can use this against us.”
However, internal documents reveal that the fund is directly managed by senior PA officials, and in practice, nothing has changed. The payments to murderers continue.
The head of the fund is Ahmad Majdalani, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official and head of the radical organization “The Popular Front for Palestinian Struggle,” which maintains close ties with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Majdalani has personally attended meetings with senior Hamas officials, issued public statements in support of terrorists, and participated in ceremonies honoring those who carried out attacks against Israeli civilians.
On February 11, 2025, Majdalani posted a photo of himself alongside senior terror group leaders at a conference in Algiers, writing: “Meeting with the leaders of the Palestinian struggle, strengthening our partnership with Hamas and our brothers in the Islamic Resistance.”
Another photo from October 2023 shows him at a gathering in Yemen, with Hamas flags visible in the background.
This despite the Palestinian civil war between 2006-2007 in which Hamas killed Fatah PLO fighters and established their regime in Gaza.
It’s time to stop being blind to the deadly fraud. If the Palestinian Authority wants to present itself as a legitimate partner, it must completely abandon its “murderer payments” policy. As long as these funds continue to flow to terrorists, the United States and the European Union must demand full transparency and condition any aid on an immediate and total halt to these payments.
Until that happens, the PA is no different than the terrorist organizations from which it claims to distance itself. Those who finance terror are terrorists, and those who orchestrate this funding are terrorist organizations. Be warned, EU!
The US should regard the Palestinian Authority with deep suspicion and enforce European countries like Germany and Norway to temper their continuous blind funding to the PA until it is proven that their money is not allowing the PA to free up budgetary resources for murderers—including those responsible for October 7.
Payments to murder Jews is not an elixir to peace or coexistence.
Until further notice, the PA is an organization badly in need of an inspection from both DOGE and CIA agents.
It’s time for Trump to impose a Palestinian inspection in Ramallah and Gaza with DOGE and CIA agents conducting a forensic accounting.
If the PA does not agree there should be zero funding.
Barry Shaw,
Israel Institute for Strategic Studies.
I find this article’s flippant reference to DOGE insulting and inappropriate. Just as with any governmental body, there may be abuse and misuse of power or funds. And that is worthy of critique. But the idea that Jews should promote DOGE in any capacity, given the atrocities that Elon Musk and his followers are doing, is insensitive and misplaced. I question the staff’s decision to include this article as responsible journalism.