Sa’ar insists PA still paying terrorists in ‘pay-for-slay’ policy, despite promises

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday accused the Palestinian Authority of continuing its controversial “pay-for-slay” policy, providing financial benefits to the families of slain terrorists, despite pledges to end it.

Sa’ar claimed that Palestinian terror convicts, including those released under the current Gaza ceasefire deal, are continuing to benefit from the policy, and accused European governments of turning a blind eye to the practice.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Budapest alongside his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjártó, Sa’ar said that “Contrary to the PA’s promises in English, they are continuing their pay-for-slay policy.” He claimed the PA has merely “changed the method” of the policy, rather than actually halting it.

“The terrorists are collecting their payments from the Palestinian post office. And the PA is now making additional payments to evil terrorists released as part of the [ceasefire] deal,” he said.

Sa’ar did not offer further details on how payments are being disbursed. The Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

Following US pressure, the PA signed a decree in February canceling a law that established a longstanding welfare system that included payments to the families of slain terrorists and the families of security prisoners held in Israeli jails, dubbed “pay-for-slay” by critics.

In documents seen by The Times of Israel in September, the PA told interlocutors that new criteria for adjudicating welfare stipends — based on financial need, rather than prison time — had been adopted.

As a result of the change, some families who received the payments were no longer eligible, while others were newly eligible, and some who received the previous payments would continue to receive funds.

Earlier this year, the PA invited the US to send a delegation to Ramallah in order to certify that the new system was in place, but that invitation has gone unanswered, and the US has not confirmed the PA’s reform.

Sa’ar accused the European Union of granting the PA “legitimacy without accountability” by failing to acknowledge the allegedly ongoing practice, arguing that the policy, along with continued incitement in Palestinian schools, media, and mosques, “pushes peace further away.”

He added that US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza references Trump’s 2020 so-called “Deal of the Century” plan for a permanent resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which demanded that the PA end the policy, claiming that, “Until today, the PA has failed to meet the required criteria, as determined by President Trump.”

In addition to his condemnation of the PA, the foreign minister also reiterated Israel’s refusal to cooperate with UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

Israel and the US accuse UNRWA of being infiltrated by the Hamas terror group. Israel has banned it from operating within its borders, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that it “is not going to play any role” in delivering aid in Gaza, calling it “a subsidiary of Hamas.”

Sa’ar: Israel won’t accept Turkish troops in Gaza, has told US

In his remarks Monday, Sa’ar also said that Israel won’t accept the presence of Turkish armed forces in Gaza, saying “countries that want or are ready to send armed forces should be at least fair to Israel.”

“Turkey, led by Erdogan, led a hostile approach against Israel,” including “not only hostile statements, but also diplomatic and economic measures,” he said. “So it is not reasonable for us to let their armed forces enter the Gaza Strip and we will not agree to that, and we said it to our American friends.”

Turkish-Israeli relations have soured drastically since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel set off the war in Gaza. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an outspoken backer of Hamas, has frequently compared Israel’s campaign in the Strip to the Holocaust.

The Prime Minister’s Office insisted last week that there will be no Turkish troops in Gaza, after reports emerged of a disagreement on the issue during a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad.

US Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that he saw a “constructive role” for Turkey to play as the truce moved toward the next stage. Answering a question from The Times of Israel, he also said, however, that nothing would be imposed on Israel regarding troops on the ground.

Jacob Magid and agencies contributed to this report.