'Pay-for-slay' incentivizes genocide

What do you call it when you’re rewarded with money for the heinous act of killing someone?

When you lack a conscience, are indifferent to the laws of God and man but need money, getting paid for taking a life amounts to the incentive of being enriched.

This is the insidious concept of “pay-for-slay,” initiated by the Palestinian Authority which actually set up a financial program known as The Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund.  It provides monthly financial support for Palestinian families whose relatives may have been killed, injured or detained as a result of Israeli confrontation. That would include suicide bombers and others who died after committing acts of violence.

Despite the condemnation which the fund has received from the World Bank as well as others, the Bank of Palestine has refused to close 3400 pay-for-slay accounts which it maintains, presently issuing payments to released terrorists. 

It’s hard to make a case for the fact that such a program would not incentivize genocide, because the more you kill, the more you earn.  In spite of that,” former U.S. President Joe Biden suggested that the Palestinian Authority should ultimately govern Gaza and West Bank,” just a month following the bloody October 7th massacre.

He said, "As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution." 

Has anyone ever heard of a worse idea? Putting the financiers of murderers in charge of a Palestinian state, alongside of Israel, while they, at the same time, advertise a monetary incentive to murder their Jewish neighbors. 

No serious promoter of peace would ever consider appointing a political entity devoid of all morality, ready to financially reward its citizens for the death of others. 

So why would the U.S. welcome Palestinian Authority support for Trump’s Gaza peace plan?  

Undoubtedly a clever move on the part of the Palestinian Authority to “express their support for a peace initiative, proposed by President Donald Trump, marking a potential diplomatic opening, as Washington seeks to advance a contentious plan for Gaza's future amid a fragile ceasefire,” but how could they possibly be trusted given their continuation of incentivizing genocide?

Is it no wonder that Israelis remain highly skeptical of Trump’s Board of Peace, knowing that true safety and security cannot be ensured until there is a full abandonment of the aspiration to kill Israelis. The desire to murder is already a reprehensible evil, but when accompanied by a monetary reward, that is the time to call it what it is – depravity which has no place in human society.

That is why the Palestinian Authority must be recognized as a group which glorifies terror, annihilation and full-on genocide. Consequently, it is disqualified at every level and needs to be isolated as a participant in a Middle East which strives for peaceful co-existence. 

In case you’re wondering why the Bank of Palestine has refused to shut down the pay-for-slay accounts, their reason was that they were instructed by “senior PA officials not to comply.”

That means that the same political leaders, from the Palestinian Authority, who would be considered to take part in Gaza governance, are those who see nothing wrong with motivating and provoking their people to commit cold-blooded murder. 

In an attempt to force an end to this indefensible pay-for-slay system, Israel’s Finance Ministry has threatened to cut off access to Israeli banks which work in cooperation with the Palestinian banking system. Such a move would make it impossible for them to make transactions abroad since Palestinian banks do not have their own foreign branches.

Considering that this despicable funding of terror has been going on for more than twenty years, this preventative action should have been implemented immediately in order to send a message that incentivizing genocide will not be tolerated!  

Given that Israel takes great pains to make sure that money laundering or financing terrorism is not possible, why did it take so long for the Finance Ministry to suggest an effective method which could put an end to this?

The answer might be a bit shocking, but Israel, over the course of many years, did not aggressively demand an end to this program, supposedly due to security concerns which could have led to the total collapse of the Palestinian Authority, who were believed to provide a fair amount of stability under their control

In essence, the system was tolerated as a bad policy which was preferrable to an even worse policy. Likewise, the Palestinian Authority justified these payments as being akin to a safety net which would keep the families of martyrs in check, knowing that they’d risk losing their financial support if they chose to become part of a resistance.

But given the fall of Gaza and the need to set up a suitable government, there is no better time than now to revisit this unbearable and insupportable system, finally demanding that it end immediately.

This is a hard lesson in what happens when evil is compromised. Dancing with the devil never ends well. Sadly, Israel was pressured not to stop this program by the U.S., other international actors and by some of our own leaders. 

But given its 20-year activation, why would the Bank of Palestine suddenly be willing to comply with a request by the Israeli Finance Ministry to shut down these accounts? We created this monster, and now we expect it to just go away because we have had enough?

While there are no easy solutions for tranquillity in the Middle East, there cannot be the upholding of disastrous policies which undermine our very security and well-being either. This is where bold and courageous leadership comes in. There must also be the ability to stand up to outside pressure by exposing the clear evil which no reasonable government could support or tolerate in their own regime.

But in this case, better late than never is the appropriate phrase. Finally, Palestinian Authority leaders are being warned that the jig is up. They can no longer continue this type of corrupt financial arrangement without risking the imposition of hard sanctions.

As the adage goes, “A lesson learned the hard way is still a lesson learned.” Going forward, we should try to minimize what is detrimental to us, because if we don’t, no one else will!