Jerusalem Research Center Urges Stronger Enforcement Against PA Terror Payments

A paper by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs urges Israel to expand action against Palestinian Authority and PLO payments rewarding terrorism. Its author, Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, recommends prosecutions, asset seizures, new financial penalties and action by foreign governments. Hirsch proposes prosecuting officials involved in authorizing or administering the payments, seizing recipients’ assets and confiscating the money once it is deposited in dedicated cash machines used to distribute it. He estimates that monthly payments exceed NIS 20 million. The paper says Israeli defense ministers have issued seizure orders totaling NIS 50 million since 2019, and estimates that no more than 15 percent has been recovered. Hirsch also proposes legislation imposing a fine equal to the payments a convicted terrorist is expected to receive during imprisonment. His illustrative calculation for a four-year sentence produces a proposed fine of NIS 74,400. Other recommendations seek wider application of citizenship and residency revocation provisions and measures by third countries against the payment system. Hirsch urges the United States to use its counterterrorism financial-sanctions authorities against those responsible for administering the payments.