While the Palestinian Authority tries to present itself to the West as a moderate and reformist partner, a recent report by the United States State Department exposed a very different reality: Ramallah continues to finance terrorists and their families through mechanisms barely disguised under new bureaucratic names.
According to the report sent to the U.S. Congress, the Palestinian Authority distributed 156 million dollars in payments linked to the so-called “pay-for-slay” system, a policy that financially rewards Palestinian terrorists imprisoned, released or killed while committing attacks. Of that number, 126 million went directly to terrorists, including prisoners released from Israeli jails, and another 30 million to relatives of deceased attackers
.“The compensation system in support of terrorism continues to operate under new mechanisms and under a different name,” the State Department said. The report was based on information provided by Israel, non-governmental organizations and open sources
.
The revelations contradict the promises made by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, who had announced alleged reforms to replace these payments with a model of social assistance “based on economic needs”. Washington concluded that the change was merely cosmetic
