Ahmed Barghouti, who masterminded suicide bombing attacks which killed twelve Israelis, walked out of an Israeli prison on Saturday afternoon with more than 1.2 million shekels ($338,00) in his bank account, courtesy Palestinian Authority stipends that Israelis refer to as “pay for slay.”
Similar sums awaited Mansour Shreim and Ahmed Abu Khader. The latter was member of the Palestinian Authority security forces who trained terrorists for suicide missions and carried out shooting attacks. Shreim dispatched terrorists who killed nine Israeli teenagers in separate attacks in 2002.
“The Palestinian Authority pays salaries to the terrorists while they are in Israeli prisons. It is not to support their families – it is actually to reward them for what they did,” Itamar Marcus, head of Palestinian Media Watch, told The Press Service of Israel. “The money is accumulated in the private account of the given terrorist, that is being opened for him immediately after he enters a prison.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) allocates around $279 million annually to pay salaries to security prisoners in Israeli prisons, which range from $400-$3,400 per month, depending on the sentence. For comparison, PA welfare benefits to ordinary Palestinians range from $60-$170 per month depending on need. Those who participated in terror attacks killing Israelis — thus receiving the most severe sentences — got the highest payouts.
The Palestinian Authority allocates seven percent of its annual budget for its so-called “Martyr’s Fund,” which provides stipends to Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons, and the families of terrorists killed in attacks. Israeli officials say the stipends provide incentives for terror and regularly offset an equivalent amount from taxes that Israel collects on behalf of the PA.
According to Palestinian Media Watch, the total amount of money that awaits the terrorists released as part of the current ceasefire deal with Hamas is around $142 million. Most enriched by the terror stipends is Muhammed Tus, who was released on Jan. 25 and deported to a third country via Egypt. According to PMW, Tus, who served 40 years for several terror attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, has amassed $633,000.
The runner-up is Raad Saadi, who served 36 years for killing Israeli soldiers and was deported. His bank account now has $571,000 courtesy the PA.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree on Feb. 10 that appeared to end the payments, but Marcus called the move a pretense to please the US.
“They moved the funds to another bank account, the same that pays welfare benefits, because they need the US money,” Marcus told TPS-IL. “But several PA sources say the salaries to the terrorists will remain very high, identical to what they were. We will only know this in March, once the payments are made.”
The ongoing first phase of the ceasefire is supposed to see a total of 33 Israeli hostages freed over six weeks in exchange for up to 1,904 Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The exact number will depend on how Israeli captives are alive. Since the first hostage release of Jan. 19, Hamas has freed 19 Israeli and five Thai captives in exchange for 952 imprisoned Palestinian terrorists.
Hamas is due to return the bodies of four dead hostages on Thursday and free six live captives on Saturday.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 73 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed to be dead.
Image - Flash90