Did the Palestinian Authority’s Pay-to-Slay Finally Stop?
- Uri Pilichowski
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
What is Pay-to-Slay?
The Palestinian Authority doesn't just incentivize violence against Israel in speeches, media, and schools; it's drawn flak from leaders like former US President Barack Obama and the United Nations.
Through laws and dedicated offices, the PA pays terrorists based on how many victims they attack through knifings, car-rammings, and murder. Critics call it "pay-to-slay," turning terror into a paycheck for Palestinians. It gets way less of a spotlight than the incitement, but it should, especially since international aid, totaling billions of dollars, helps foot the bill.
Palestinians back the payments
Palestinian advocates claim the payments are innocent. According to American professor Shibley Telhami, the label “pay-to-slay” is a clever and memorable name tag, but one that’s bigoted and distorted. Telhami claimed it distracts from the central culprit: 53 years of an Israeli occupation that has stunted and broken hundreds of thousands of lives. “Pay-to-slay” suggests that the PA pays Palestinians in order to kill Israelis and, worse, that those who commit violence against Israel are motivated to do so principally by monetary compensation for their families. Neither stands scrutiny, and making such insinuations is wrong and incendiary.
Taylor Force Act
The Taylor Force Act (H.R. 1164, S. 1697) conditions future US economic aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the PA ending its longtime practice of paying financial rewards to terrorists who attack Americans and Israelis, as well as lifetime stipends for the terrorists’ families. The bipartisan Taylor Force Act was signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2018. The bill was named in honor of Taylor Force, a West Point graduate who served tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in 2016 while he was visiting Israel as part of a university study group.
A vow to end Pay-to-Slay
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree in February 2025 revoking the system of payments to families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails or to families of Palestinians who were killed or wounded during attacks against Israelis. The Biden administration, led by its representative for Palestinian affairs Hady Amr, negotiated with the Palestinian Authority on this issue over the course of two years. A Palestinian official said Abbas' presidential decree revokes articles contained in Palestinian laws and regulations concerning "the system of paying financial allowances to the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded."
Did Abbas keep his vow?
The State Department formally determined in February 2026 that the Palestinian Authority paid more than $200 million to terrorists and their families in 2025, the same year PA president Mahmoud Abbas claimed he ended the "pay-to-slay" program, according to a nonpublic notice provided to Congress. Rather than ending these payments, the PA shifted to a new system that it hoped to hide from international donors at a time when the Ramallah-based government is jockeying for a role in postwar Gaza, the State Department disclosed for the first time. Israeli intelligence assessed that the PA funneled $144 million to terrorists and their families in 2024 and committed at least $214 million through 2025, while the State Department determined that the payments continued from March to August 2025 under a purportedly reformed welfare system.
Wrap up
The Palestinian Authority fuels violence against Israel through cold, hard cash via its infamous "pay for slay" program. Despite defenders calling it mere welfare or blaming occupation, the PA has long rewarded terrorists and their families based on the severity of attacks, turning murder into a paycheck. The Taylor Force Act aimed to stop US funding of this, and Abbas vowed in February 2025 to end it with a decree shifting to need-based aid. Yet recent State Department findings reveal the PA paid over $200 million to terrorists and families in 2025, proving the promises were not kept. Until the PA genuinely dismantles pay for slay and stops rewarding terror, it will never earn true international legitimacy as a partner for peace.
Uri Pilichowski is an author, speaker, and senior educator at institutions around the world.