End Palestinian Authority’s ‘pay-to-slay’ program

In February, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas decreed that he would end his government’s “pay to slay” program in which the PA transfers reward money to Palestinian terrorists and their families. The PA invited the Trump administration to come to the West Bank in June to verify first-hand the PA’s elimination of the program. It is now past June, but the U.S. still has an opportunity to ensure pay-to-slay is eliminated once and for all, setting the Palestinian government on a path towards a sustainable peace with Israel.

The so-called “Martyrs Fund” was created in 2004 to compensate Palestinians who committed acts of terrorism against the State of Israel, and either died or were imprisoned as a result. The payments increase with the extremity of the violence, with terrorists and their families earning thousands of dollars, free healthcare, and guaranteed government jobs. Pay-to-slay consumes 8 percent of the PA’s total budget at a cost of $300 million annually – wasting money at a moment when the donor-driven PA budget suffers from a 172% deficit.

However, the pay-to-slay program remains exceedingly popular with more than a 90 percent approval rating among the Palestinian public at a moment when Abbas’s own approval has hit rock bottom at 15 percent. Some may wonder why Abbas – an 89 year old autocrat in the 20^th year of a four year term –would choose to take this seismic political risk by ending such a popular program, but his motives are clear: Abbas is desperate to propitiate the Trump administration, angling for a PA role in post-war Gaza.

So will the PA really end its “Martyrs’” slush fund and come into compliance with the U.S. law that demands a verifiable cessation of what amounts to sponsorship of terrorism? Perhaps: In March, the PA removed 1600 people from the pay-to-slay payroll. ­And in April, Abbas’s right hand man and Palestinian Vice President Hussein el Sheikh sent multiple letters to Secretary Rubio requesting him to send American inspectors after June 1^st to verify PA termination of the program. Then again, perhaps not.

In reality, the end of pay-to-slay is largely illusory, a feint by Abbas that would simply transfer payments to another entity, the Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment. Israel asserts this would be a shell organization, with its leadership hand-picked by Abbas. In addition, Abbas backtracked on his decree in an Arabic-language speech not long after his initial pronouncement, saying that the PA would continue its martyr payments “even if we have only one cent left.”

So what’s Abbas’s theory? President Trump wants the Hamas-Israel war to end. In turn, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Hamas will not be replaced by Fatah, Abbas’s ruling party. Given Bibi’s vehement opposition, why would Abbas bother with his pay-to-slay play? Because Abbas believes he has a shot at ingratiating himself with Trump – perhaps enough to persuade the President to pressure the Israeli government into acquiescence. Nor is this the long shot some may suggest: There are few takers for a Gaza day after scenario; other than the PA, it’s not clear who plan B would be.

Abbas understands that Donald Trump hopes to broker Israeli-Saudi normalization, a capstone to his first term’s Abraham Accords. But the road to normalization runs through ending the war in Gaza. Since October 7^th, the Saudis have been explicit that normalization with Israel will only happen once the conflict in Gaza winds down. And Saudi Arabia – along with Abraham Accords states Bahrain and the UAE – are pushing for the PA to replace Hamas and govern Gaza once the war is concluded.

Given the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the failure of the Palestinian Authority to meet not only U.S. demands, but the simplest requisites of good governance, is there any reason for hope this time around? The most direct course is for the United States to call Abbas’s bluff. The PA President has sent repeated letters to President Trump assuring him that the PA is ready to govern Gaza. A termination of pay-to-slay, verified by the Trump administration, could reassure the world that Ramallah is serious about reforms it has long been reluctant to undertake.

Danielle Pletka is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Her writing on the Middle East has been published widely in outlets including The Washington Post and The National Review. Stephen Ailinger is a Government Relations Associate at the American Enterprise Institute.