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Palestinian Authority Admits Payments to Terrorists Have Cost It Billions of Dollars — In Just Five Years Alone
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the West Bank January 31, 2023. Majdi Mohammed/Pool via REUTERS
The Palestinian Authority (PA) prioritizes its payments to terrorists, and has therefore lost more than 6.96 billion shekels (over $1.88 billion) in the last 5 years alone, according to its own data.
The official PA news agency, WAFA, criticized Israel for causing the PA’s financial crises largely by deducting money that the PA uses for terror payments. However, a look at the PA’s numbers shows that the PA itself is responsible for its crises.
Israel’s deductions are in three main categories.
Deduction 1: Pay-for Slay
Every year, in accordance with its Anti “Pay-for-Slay” law, Israel makes 12 monthly deductions from the tax transfers that it would otherwise have sent the PA. This deduction is identical to the amount that the PA rewarded imprisoned terrorists and families of so-called Martyrs in the previous year.
Deduction 2: Money to Gaza since October 7
After the massacre and atrocities committed by Hamas and Gazans on October 7, 2023, Israel has been making deductions from the PA in accordance with the amount that the PA sends to Gaza each month. The sum of these deductions is sent to Norway for future distribution, when Israel will be able to be sure that the proceeds will not go directly into Hamas’ hands.
Deduction 3: Repaying PA debts
For many years, Israel generously allowed the Palestinian Authority to use Israeli hospitals, electricity, and water, even though the PA did not pay its fair share. Israel finally decided to make a deduction from the tax transfers in accordance with a portion of the debt that the PA has incurred.
The PA’s official daily said that these “illegal deductions” are the cause of its financial crises. However, it is clear from looking at the PA’s own figures that the PA has only itself to blame for its woes.
Deduction 1: Pay-for Slay
The PA’s complaint:
According to the data, the Israeli deductions in the category of “allowances of the families of the Martyrs and the prisoners,” which the PA has been paying these families, stand at 3.48 billion shekels [over $945 million] from February 2019 until July 2024, at an average of 53.5 million shekels [over $14.5 million] a month.
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Aug. 18, 2024]
The PA daily claims that these deductions are the source for its loss of 3.48 billion shekels [over $944 million] in five years.
Significantly, had the PA not rewarded the terrorists with 3.48 billion shekels, Israel would not have deducted 3.48 billion shekels. 3.48 billion multiplied by 2 equals 6.96 billion. The PA thus would have had 6.96 billion shekels [nearly $189 billion] to help its people, if only it would have stopped rewarding terrorism.
This sum only accounts for the PA’s losses since Israel began these deductions in 2019. If we take into consideration that the PA passed its “Prisoners Law” in 2005, thus committing to pay monthly salaries to terrorist prisoners, we find that the PA has spent many billions more on the goal of rewarding terrorists. It is this mission that actually serves as the chief cause of its financial troubles.
Deduction 2: Money to Gaza since October 7
To keep money out of the hands of Hamas during the war, Israel has been deducting from the PA the amount equivalent to what the PA sends monthly to Gaza. This is what the PA reported:
…the Israeli deductions from the tax revenues in the category of “monies designated for the Gaza Strip” are approximately 2.55 billion shekels [over $692 million] since the outbreak of the war against the Gaza Strip, from the start of October 2023 until July 2024, and 255 million shekels [over $69 million] a month on average. Israel has been deducting these monies as a punitive measure against the PA’s refusal to stop transferring the funds designated for the Gaza Strip, particularly the salaries of the [PA] public employees, foremost among them the employees in the health and education sectors.
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Aug. 18, 2024]
Of course, this is not meant to be punitive against the workers personally, but rather it is a clear security necessity. In its war in Gaza, Israel has been supplying fuel and other goods as humanitarian aid, which is stolen daily by Hamas, thus strengthening the terror organization and extending the war by many months. It would be completely negligent to allow tens of millions of dollars into Gaza that would most certainly end up in the hands of Hamas as well.
Deduction 3: Repaying PA debts
The PA further complained about a third Israeli deduction when it is not a deduction at all, rather it is merely the legitimate collection of PA debts to Israel:
… the cost of the Israeli deductions from the tax revenues for electricity, water, sewage, and hospitals has reached approximately 20 billion shekels [over $5.43 billion] from 2012 to July 2024.
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Aug. 18, 2024]
This deduction, likewise, is not the fault of Israel but that of the PA. For many years, the PA did not pay its dues and expected Israel to keep supplying services with the Israeli taxpayer footing the bill. Had the PA been more responsible and paid on time for what it had received, there would be no debt deduction.
In summary, the PA habitually creates its own problems and then blames Israel or others for them. If it would only be timely with the payments that it should be making, Israel would have no need to deduct them from tax revenues. And if it would not make payments that it should not be making — i.e. rewarding terrorists with high salaries for their crimes — then it would have at least 10 billion shekels more to spend on its people.
Itamar Marcus is Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)’s Founder and Director. Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
The post Palestinian Authority Admits Payments to Terrorists Have Cost It Billions of Dollars — In Just Five Years Alone first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi Says ‘We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Zionism’
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi attends the annual festival of Greek Communist Youth in Athens, Greece, Sept. 22, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Costas Baltas
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi said on a podcast earlier this month that she is fighting Jews, not Zionism, and that she wishes for World War III.
“I was raised [to believe] that Judaism means occupation, and today, tomorrow, and a million years from now, I will continue to say that Judaism [should] be presented to the children of Palestine – children of my age and younger – as occupation, and that we are fighting the Jews, not Zionism,” Tamimi, now 24, said on “The Enlightenment Podcast” on YouTube on Aug. 8.
Tamimi’s comments were flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which reported on and translated her remarks.
Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi: We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Just Zionism; Westerners Patronize Us with Their Aid, They should Shut Up When We Talk; They Will Give Us Aid, Whether They Like It Or Not, and We Will Not Thank Them; I Wish for a Nuclear WWIII, So the Whole World… pic.twitter.com/NNn5Jf7TD6
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) August 15, 2025
“The whole world needs to shut up, when a Palestinian is talking,” she said. “We are superior to the entire world, because we are the only ones in the world fighting injustice, at the expense of our lives, and the expense of our humanity.”
Tamimi continued, “Every night when I go to sleep, I put my head on the pillow, and I pray to God to protect the humanity left inside me, because I don’t want to become a killer. In this West of yours, if a mother screams at her child, he grows up to become a serial killer.”
“I have reached a point where I wish for a World War III. Whoever dies, dies, and whoever lives, lives. The important thing is that we will be over with this. I have reached this point,” she said. “Let the whole world be destroyed, I don’t care. Let them drop nuclear bombs, and destroy the whole world, so it won’t be just the Palestinians.”
These recent comments are the most recent in a long string of radical remarks by Tamimi. In November 2023, she wrote, in an Instagram post, “Come on settlers, we are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin – we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke.”
Speaking about Israelis who live in the West Bank, she said, “We will drink your blood and eat your skull. Come on, we are waiting for you.”
Tamimi became famous internationally in 2017 when a video of her, then just 16 years old, slapping, kicking, and yelling at Israeli soldiers went viral as a symbol of both Palestinian resistance to Israel, and the asymmetric nature of the conflict. The soldiers did not retaliate but did later arrest her.
Tamimi was convicted on four counts of assaulting an IDF officer and soldier, incitement, and interference with IDF forces in March 2018, and was sentenced to eight months in prison and eight months of probation.
She was released a few months later, in July 2018. Since then, Tamimi has been hailed as a Palestinian human rights activist, received a book deal from Penguin Random House, and consistently received sympathetic coverage from Western news outlets.
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Trump Administration Reaffirms Opposition to Turkey Rejoining F-35 Program
A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
The Trump administration has reaffirmed its opposition to Turkey’s rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing Ankara’s possession of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.
In a letter sent on Wednesday to US Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a senior State Department official reiterated that Washington remains committed to enforcing the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which penalizes countries with financial ties to Russia’s defense sector.
“The Trump administration is fully committed to protecting US defense and intelligence assets and complying with US law, including CAATSA,” the letter read
The message, signed by Paul Guaglianone of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, stated that Washington’s position “has not changed” and that Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-supplied S-400 remains incompatible with US law and defense requirements. The official stressed that the Trump administration was fully committed to protecting American defense and intelligence assets while maintaining its obligations under the National Defense Authorization Act.
Despite the strained relationship, the letter emphasized that Turkey remains a longstanding NATO ally. US officials framed the relationship as critical to the security interests of both countries and signaled a willingness to maintain dialogue with Ankara.
In 2017, despite several US warnings, Ankara purchased the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, leading to Turkey’s expulsion from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The United States seeks to cooperate with Turkey on common priorities and to engage in dialogue to resolve disagreements,” Guaglianone wrote, while maintaining that Washington has “expressed our disapproval of Ankara’s acquisition of the S-400 and clearly conveyed steps that would need to be taken” in the sanctions review process.
The letter came after a bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law. Members of Congress warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington had begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Under Section 1245 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon is prohibited from transferring F-35 jets or related technology to Turkey unless Ankara no longer possesses the Russian-made S-400 system and provides assurances it will not acquire such equipment in the future. Because Turkey continues to retain the S-400, US officials are legally barred from approving its participation in the F-35 program.
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Israel Responds to Norway Donating Profits From World Cup Qualifying Matchup to Aid Gaza
Alexander Sørloth of Norway scores the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier football match between Israel and Norway on March 25, 2025, in Debrecen. Photo: VEGARD GRØTT/Bildbyran/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The Israel Football Association has issued a statement in response to a decision by its Norwegian counterpart to give profits from their mutual World Cup qualifiying match to support humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.
Norway will host Israel on Oct. 11 at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, in the next round of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On Tuesday, the Norwegian Football Association said it “cannot remain indifferent” to humanitarian suffering in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war, and announced that it will donate profits from the Oct. 11 game to aid humanitarian causes supporting Gaza.
“Neither we nor other organizations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been exposed to for a long time,” said Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness. “Israel is part of FIFA’s and UEFA’s competitions and we have to deal with that. But we want to give the profit to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and that contributes with active emergency aid on the ground.”
The Norwegian Football Association said it will reveal at a later date which humanitarian organization it will donate to. The association added that it is working with local police and UEFA to ensure the safety of players and fans at the Oct. 11 match in Oslo and will be taking “some extra security measures,” such as limiting capacity at the game. Tickets go on sale next week.
The Israeli Football Association responded on Wednesday in a statement to Telegraph Sport. It urged the Norwegian association to “make sure the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” for which Norway has been criticized internationally. Israel also said it “would be nice” if the Norwegian Football Association would condemn the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We do not usually advise associations regarding the use of match revenue, even if it is obtained thanks to a match against our proud national team, but we will deviate from our custom this time: it would be nice if some of the amount were directed to try to finding a condemnation by the Norwegian FA of the Oct. 7 massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli citizens and children, or action in favor of the release of 50 hostages – and please, make sure that the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” the Israeli Football Association said in a statement. It also said it aims to gain 3 points at the October match.
Israel has been unable to host matches on its home soil for international competitions because of security concerns related to the Israel-Hamas war. It competed in a qualifying match against Norway in Hungary in March, which Norway won 4-2.
The Italian Soccer Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is demanding that Israel be suspended from international competitions ahead of Italy’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Jewish state that are set for September and October. Italy is set to play Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sept. 8, before hosting Israel in Udine on Oct. 14.