The Palestinian Authority’s “Pay to Slay” system distributes payments to terrorists and their families for committing attacks against Americans and Israelis.
America First Legal and the US Department of State have settled a lawsuit alleging that the Biden administration unlawfully restored taxpayer-funded aid benefiting the Palestinian Authority despite federal restrictions tied to its controversial “Pay to Slay” terrorist reward payment program.
The settlement, signed May 19 in Jackson et al. v. Trump et al., requires the State Department to comply with the Taylor Force Act for the next ten years and establishes new criteria officials must use before approving Economic Support Fund assistance for the West Bank and Gaza.
Congress passed the Taylor Force Act after the 2016 murder of US Army veteran and West Point graduate Taylor Force, who was stabbed to death by Palestinian terrorist Bashar Masalha while visiting Israel. The Palestinian Authority later praised Masalha as a “heroic martyr” and paid his family through its terror stipend system, according to court documents.
The law, signed by President Donald Trump in 2018, prohibits US economic assistance that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority unless the State Department certifies that the PA has ended its policy of paying terrorists and their families. During Trump’s first administration, the US halted funding covered by the law.
According to the lawsuit, however, the Biden administration reinstated funding to the Palestinian Authority despite the PA continuing the “Pay to Slay” program. America First Legal alleged the administration transferred more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds to benefit the PA after Biden took office.
The Palestinian Authority’s “Pay to Slay” system distributes payments to terrorists and their families for committing attacks against Americans and Israelis. The payments are funded through the PA’s so-called “Martyr Fund,” with monthly stipends increasing based on the severity of the attack and the number of casualties inflicted. Congress explicitly stated in the Taylor Force Act that the PA’s practice of paying salaries to imprisoned terrorists and to the families of deceased terrorists “is an incentive to commit acts of terror.”
Court documents in the case noted that Congress passed the law after determining that even indirect US assistance to the Palestinian Authority could free up resources for the terror payment system.
AFL filed the lawsuit in 2022 on behalf of Rep. Ronny Jackson, Stuart and Robbi Force, and Sarri Singer, a survivor of a 2003 Jerusalem bus bombing.
The settlement requires State Department officials reviewing aid packages to consider whether the Palestinian Authority is the direct recipient of assistance, whether the aid pays PA creditors, whether the PA controls the beneficiary entity, and whether the assistance replaces services the PA would otherwise fund itself.
The agreement also binds the federal government for the next decade and allows future court enforcement if the terms are violated.
“This case has always been about one simple principle: terrorism should never be rewarded, and stopping economic support funds to the PA unless Pay to Slay has ended,” said Sarri Singer. “As a victim of terrorism and a survivor of a Hamas bus bombing, I have lived with the painful reality that the person who carried out the attack against me is not only honored, but that his family receives monthly payments because of that act of violence. That is not just policy; it is deeply personal, and no victim should ever have to live with it. This settlement brings a level of accountability and helps ensure that the U.S. is not contributing, even indirectly, to incentivizing terror.”
“This settlement continues [President Trump’s] legacy,” AFL President Gene Hamilton said, calling it “an important victory for the rule of law, for victims of terrorism, and for the principle that America must never finance terror.”
Rep. Jackson said the agreement helps “ensure no American family endures such a loss again,” while Stuart Force called the settlement “a good day” but noted it was bittersweet because his wife Robbi, who spent years advocating for the law after their son’s murder, had since died.
The settlement also requires the government to preserve records related to support provided to the Palestinian Authority and related entities between January 20, 2021, and January 20, 2025, for seven years.
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