Summary
The Palestinian Authority operates an extensive system that rewards individuals convicted of terrorism with salaries, grants, benefits for families, and senior government or security positions based on time spent in prison.
This structure has enabled convicted perpetrators, including members of the security forces, to receive high ranks and ongoing pay even without active service.
Such practices undermine efforts to build a demilitarized and stable Gaza, as proposed security frameworks risk being staffed by individuals with direct involvement in past violence.
Significant international investment in training these forces has yielded little positive security outcome, raising concerns that future governance and disarmament plans will fail without strict exclusion and vetting measures.
The Palestinian Authority’s “Pay-for-Slay” policy is much more comprehensive than just paying salaries to terrorists. As part of the policy, not only do the terrorists get rich, but their families also enjoy a host of different benefits. When released from prison, the terrorists are paid special grants1 and those who spent more than 20 years in prison are entitled to purchase a new car tax-free.2
Terrorists who spent over ten years in prison are given a position in the PA. Similar to the salary and the release grant, the seniority of the position given to the released terrorists is based on the time they spent in prison,3 as shown in this table:
| Number of Years in Prison | Civil Grade | Military Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 5-6 years | Head of department | First Lieutenant |
| 6-8 years | Director (c) | Captain |
| 8-10 years | Director (b) | Major |
| 10-15 years | Director (a) | Lieutenant Colonel + seniority |
| 15-20 years | Director General (A4) | Colonel + seniority |
| 20-25 years | Assistant Undersecretary (A2) | Brigadier General + seniority |
| 25-30 years | Undersecretary of Ministry | Major General |
| 30+ years | Minister | Major General + seniority |
The only condition of the position is that if the PA calls the terrorist to work, he must comply. If the PA does not call on the terrorist, he may simply sit at home and enjoy the salary linked to the position.
The case of PA police officer Raed al-Sheikh is illustrative.
On October 12, 2000, IDF reservists Vadim Nurzhitz and Yossi Avrahami mistakenly entered the PA-controlled city of Ramallah after taking a wrong turn. They were quickly apprehended by PA police and taken to the city’s police station. While ostensibly under the protection of PA security forces, the two soldiers were instead brutally lynched by a Palestinian mob inside the station.
Raed al-Sheikh was one of the leaders of the attack. He escorted Nurzhitz and Avrahami into the police station and later led the mob that breached the station and entered the room where Nurzhitz was being held. Al-Sheikh personally participated in the killing, repeatedly striking Nurzhitz in the head with a four-way wrench as part of the lynch.
Al-Sheikh was arrested eight days later on October 20, 2000. After being convicted of the murder of the two Israeli men, al-Sheikh was sentenced to two life sentences.4 When I stood in court5 with al-Sheikh, it was abundantly clear that he had not even a hint of remorse.
Instead of dying in prison, al-Sheikh was released on October 22, 2025, as part of the deal to secure the release of some the hostages kidnapped during the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.
While in prison, the PA paid al-Sheikh over NIS 1.4 million. When released, having spent 25 years in prison, al-Sheikh was entitled to the rank of Major General in the PA security forces.
While he worked as a policeman in Ramallah, al-Sheikh was originally from Gaza. Accordingly, he was released to Gaza.
Al-Sheikh was not the exception to the rule regarding the participation of members of the PA security forces in terror. Rather, PA and PLO sources openly bragged about members of the PA security forces taking an active role in terror and even accounting for, at one stage, at least 12% of the terrorist prisoners.6
As President Trump, the Board of Peace, and the other organs are set to start the implementation of stage two of the ceasefire deal, special attention needs to be given not only to the exclusion of Hamas members and supporters from any governance structure, but also to extensive vetting of any other person recruited to the newly forming Gazan security force. That force must be subject to the most stringent regulations, and exclude any potential PA influence.
The danger in this context is not only from members of Hamas, PIJ, and other openly identified and designated terrorist organizations, but also from members of Fatah, particularly the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – the openly designated terrorist wing of Fatah – and members of the PA security forces.
Unfortunately, while the United States has, since 2007 through 2025, obligated $1.4 billion and actually spent almost $1 billion to train and improve the PA security forces, the return on that investment has been minimal at best and, realistically speaking, probably negative.
Disarming Hamas, demilitarization, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons, are the most critical elements of the vision for a peaceful Gaza. But the security forces charged with this task are themselves terrorists. For this reason, nothing constructive will be achieved and the vision will fail.
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Notes
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Lump sums that increase from $1,500 to $25,000 based on the time the terrorists spent in prison↩︎
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https://jcfa.org/palestinian-terrorist-murderers-buy-tax-free-cars/↩︎
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For more on this subject see: https://jcfa.org/paying-salaries-terrorists-contradicts-palestinian-vows-peaceful-intentions/; https://jcfa.org/article/will-the-pas-restructured-pay-for-slay-policy-lead-to-renewed-u-s-funding/↩︎
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Two of the three judges on the panel that convicted Al-Sheikh actually sentenced him to death. However, since the death penalty required a unanimous decision, he was only sentenced to two life sentences.↩︎
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In my capacity then as the Head of the Appeals Prosecution for the IDF Military Prosecution for Judea and Samaria.↩︎
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https://jcfa.org/article/is-u-s-aid-to-the-palestinian-authority-fueling-terror/↩︎
