Summary
The piece argues that a long-running reward payment system tied to terrorism has expanded beyond local institutions into regional and international banking networks. It claims these payments continue despite official statements to the contrary and warns that banks in places such as Jordan, Turkey, and Gulf states may be exposed to liability. It also contends that differences in how countries define terrorism can create enforcement gaps. The central recommendation is for stronger U.S. and European action to sanction the financial channels involved.
Key Takeaways
- A system of payments to individuals involved in terrorism is described as continuing across borders despite public claims that it ended, with banks in multiple countries potentially handling the transfers.
- Financial institutions that process these payments may face major legal, regulatory, and reputational risks, especially when they operate in jurisdictions with stricter anti-terror financing laws.
- A proposed solution is for the United States and European governments to formally designate the relevant financial entities as terrorist organizations in order to block access to the international banking system.
The subject of cross-border terror financing has plagued the international community for decades. The phenomena prompted the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, the establishment of international bodies, such as the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate1 and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and the adoption of national legislation.
For decades, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have been global innovators in inciting terror and hold the dubious title of developing and implementing the most comprehensive terror-rewarding ‘Pay-for-Slay’ policy, disbursing hundreds of millions of dollars annually to reward terrorists for acts of terror.
Unsatisfied with having pioneered an unprecedented system of rewarding terrorists on such an enormous scale, the PA-PLO decided to export the ‘Pay-for-Slay’ policy around the globe.
While the PA-PLO claimed in early 2025 to have abandoned the policy, persistent reports disproved the claim. Most recently, Israeli2 and U.S.3 authorities issued official reports noting that, in 2025 alone, the PA-PLO paid terrorists over $200 million.
Revelations by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) show that terror reward payments extend beyond local borders and are an international issue. PMW reports that recipients in both Jordan4 and Lebanon5 confirmed receipt of their payments, demonstrating the cross-border nature of the payments.
The receipt and handling of terror reward payments place recipient banks in a potentially disastrous situation and could even expose them to civil liability.
Infect the Jordanian Banks, Not the PA Banks
Legislation passed by Israel in 2016, adopted in Judea and Samaria in 2020, outlawed terror-related rewards. As a result, PA banks closed 35,000 accounts. While PA banks recognized the risks of facilitating such payments, foreign banks may not realize that the PA-PLO’s ‘Pay-for-Slay’ policy exposes them to significant financial and legal dangers.
Jordan may not object to the PA-PLO using its banks to pay terrorist rewards, as it does not consider Palestinian attacks on Jews to be terrorism.6
As Jordan noted, in 2001, when it joined the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, Jordan “does not consider acts of national armed struggle and fighting a foreign occupation in the exercise of the people’s right to self-determination as terrorist acts within the context of paragraph 1(b) of article 2 of the convention.”
However, since some Jordanian banks, particularly the largest, Arab Bank, have a presence in the U.S., the PA-PLO’s use of these banks to implement the “Pay-for-Slay” policy contaminates them.
Is the Turkish Banking System Also Contaminated?
In exchange for releasing Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, Israel released thousands of terrorists, including murderers. Many now live in Turkey, including at least one who killed American citizens, and continue to receive PA-PLO ‘Pay-for-Slay’ payments.
As a result, the Turkish banking system, as with several Gulf states, has begun managing payments from the PA-PLO, known as the “Pay-for-Slay” program.
How to Avoid the Spread of the “Pay-for-Slay” Cancer
In 2017, Israel designated the PLO’s financial arm, the Palestinian National Fund (PNF), as a terrorist organization because of its role in implementing the “Pay-for-Slay” policy. PA-PLO officials admit that the PA funds payments to terrorists, often using the PLO, which is subject to little regulation and oversight, as a conduit.
In September 2018, the first Trump administration ordered the closure of the PLO offices in Washington, after it was determined7 that they no longer served the purpose of promoting peace. The Palestinian leadership expected the Biden administration to reopen the offices, but that decision never materialized.
The most effective way to ensure that the PA-PLO’s malignant terror reward payments don’t contaminate U.S. and European banks is for the U.S. Treasury to follow Israel’s lead and designate the financial arm of the PLO as a terror organization.
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Notes
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Established pursuant to UNSCR 1373 (2001) – https://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/terrorism/res_1373_english.pdf↩︎
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https://jcfa.org/the-pa-continues-to-lie-and-reward-terrorists-in-pay-for-slay/↩︎
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https://freebeacon.com/israel/palestinian-authority-promised-terrorists-more-than-200-million-in-pay-to-slay-payments-after-it-scrapped-program-state-department-tells-congress/↩︎
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See Jordan’s derogation to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. https://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/Special/1999%20International%20Convention%20for%20the%20Suppression%20of%20the%20Financing%20of%20Terrorism.pdf↩︎
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https://2017-2021.state.gov/closure-of-the-plo-office-in-washington/↩︎
