ISRAEL - ‘Pay-for-Slay’ Payments Cut
The scope of the PA’s pay-for-slay payments to terrorists has decreased by 30-40% in 2024, despite expectations of increased payments following the October 7 massacre, according to a study.
“Surprisingly, we’re seeing a trend opposite to what we expected,” explained Lt.-Col. (res.) Adv. Maurice Hirsch, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
Three main factors have been identified as responsible for the surprising decrease in terrorist funding.
“First, the decision to prevent Red Cross representatives from visiting prisons created significant bureaucratic difficulties,” said Hirsch. “Second, the economic pressure on the Palestinian Authority reached an unprecedented peak: new data from the Finance Ministry shows that Israel deducted about NIS 3 billion from PA funds through November 2024.”
The senior researcher emphasized that the third factor can be attributed to the disruptions in Gaza.
Despite this, Israel continued transferring sums of ‘tax money’ to the authority regardless. In this context, the High Court of Justice issued a conditional order against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for it they deemed “transferring taxes estimated at billions of shekels to the Palestinian Authority, without any justification.”
-www.jpost.com, 2 January 2025
Arno's Commentary
Israel’s extremely liberal policies toward publicly self-declared enemies of the state, is something one may categorize as, “Only in Israel!”
Jerusalem’s Center for Security and Foreign Affairs documents: “The Palestinian Authority’s legislation and allocations of monthly salaries and benefits rewarding imprisoned and released terrorists, and the families of ‘Martyrs,’ amount to $300 million annually. This financial reward clearly demonstrates the PA’s institutional commitment to sponsoring terror against Israel” (jcpa.org).
We are reminded of Proverbs 25:21-22: “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.”
Jesus said, “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you” (Luke 6:27-28).
Interestingly, although Israel is threatened with destruction by its enemies, they already are practicing what the Old and New Testament declares.
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Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
