https://www.meforum.org/61637/hirsch-on-palestinian-pay-to-slay-program
Maurice Hirsch, director of legal strategies at Palestinian Media Watch, spoke to participants in an August 17 Middle East Forum webinar (video) to discuss efforts to abolish the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) “pay-to-slay” system of financially rewarding terrorists.
Hirsch recounted dedicating his two-decade career in the IDF to prosecuting Palestinian terrorists only to realize that the lengthy jail sentences he meted out were “mak[ing] the terrorists rich” due to the PA’s pay-to-slay program.
Under this system, which began with the PA’s inception in 1994 and was further codified in 2004, 2006, and 2011, Palestinians who carry out acts of terrorism against Israelis receive financial rewards, payable to their families for those killed or in prison. Every terrorist serving time in an Israeli prison is “entitled to a monthly cash reward” that gets higher the longer he or she is behind bars. The average base salary a terrorist earns jumps considerably after three years in prison. After five years, benefits are added and the terrorist receives a pension for life. Those who serve ten years are guaranteed a highly paid position in the PA.
The pay-to-slay system has actually led some captured terrorists to reject shorter jail sentences in plea negotiations so as to qualify for more money. Hirsch recalled a defendant’s lawyer rejecting a 52-month sentence in a case he prosecuted, demanding 60 instead. “Why spend 52 months in jail and be released just having received your salary, when at the price of just another eight months you can receive a pension for the rest of your life?”