Palestinian Authority paid terrorist salaries of more than $150 million in 2020
The amount comprises approximately 3.25% of Ramallah's budget last year
The Palestinian Authority (PA) paid more than NIS 512 million (US$157 million) in salaries to terrorist prisoners in 2020, according to a report that Palestinian Media Watch released Monday.
PMW assessed that the amount paid to terrorist prisoners accounts for approximately 3.25 percent of the PA's annual budget.
The total amount paid to incarcerated or released terrorists was more than NIS 512 million because those who had previously been employed by the PA continue receiving their salaries while in prison, according to PA budgetary regulations, reported The Jerusalem Post.
The PA also has a “martyr’s fund” for the families of those killed while committing or attempting acts of terrorism. It includes monthly salaries, free education, insurance, medical care and more, meaning that the final total could be well in excess of the stipulated NIS 512 million.
https://x.com/i/web/status/1363767732131557376
This post can't be displayed because social networks cookies have been deactivated. You can activate them by clicking .
The analysis also highlights what appears to be the PA's opacity with regard to the destination of a significant proportion of its total expenditure.
PMW charged that the PA was attempting to hide payments to terrorists due to supposed transparency required by international donors. It added, crucially, that while the PA is expected to be able to fully account for how the money is spent, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is not simlarly constrained.
Indeed, PMW showed that simple name changes of PA institutions, such as the Prisoners' Affairs Ministry is an attempt to hide the true destination of payments.
"In 2020, with the PA again paying the terrorists through the PLO rather than directly, the annual “transfer expenditure” of the “PLO institutions” rose from NIS 161 million in 2019 to almost NIS 674 million in 2020 - a rise of 300 percent," the report highlighted.
PMW recommended that it was "inexcusable" for donor countries to display such a cavalier attitude to how their money was spent while permitting the PA to hide a significant part of its expenditure under the non-transparent "PLO institutions" listing.