Taylor Force Act Talking Points

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1. Palestinian Law

The salary payments to terrorists are made according to Palestinian Authority (PA) legislation. The Pay for Slay program is mainly anchored in two laws from 2004, Law No. 14 and Law No. 19, and in a 2013 amendment to the latter law.

• Law No. 14 establishes the opening of a “special account” to fund prisoners, defined as “anyone incarcerated in the occupation’s prisons for his participation in the struggle against the occupation” (Article 1).
• Law No. 19 defines the prisoners and released prisoners as “a fighting sector and an integral part of the fabric of the Arab Palestinian society” (Article 2) and declares the need to “grant the financial rights of the prisoner and his family” (Article 4). It also stipulates that the PA shall “grant every incarcerated prisoner a monthly allowance, without discrimination,” meaning including members of Hamas (Article 6). The law lists preferential treatment for released prisoners such as exemptions from: tuition fees at government schools and universities, health insurance payments, and tuition fees for professional training programs (Article 5).
• The 2013 amendment to Law No. 19 grants “priority in annual job placements in all State institutions” for released prisoners (Article 5). It also dictates that the longer the imprisonment the prisoner is entitled to a higher rank in the government apparatus and to a higher salary, basically the deadlier the attack, the richer the reward. Article 9 extends prisoner status to a larger portion of the population, including expelled persons, those under house arrest, and to PLO members arrested outside of Palestine.

The salaries are currently paid based on PA Government Decision No. 23 of 2010, which specifies the prisoners’ monthly allowance according to the length of sentence. Bonuses are also paid if the terrorists are Israeli Arab or Arab residents from Jerusalem. The PA also provides prisoners with a monthly allowance for canteen expenses, totaling $780,000 per month.