Palestinian Authority Transferred NIS 500 Million to Terrorists in 2025, Cabinet Told

The Palestinian Authority transferred approximately NIS 500 million to terrorists and their families during 2025, according to figures presented at a recent Israeli cabinet meeting and first reported by i24NEWS.

The disclosure contradicts previous public statements by the PA that it had restructured or halted such payments. Israeli officials told ministers the funds continued to flow through formal channels, with additional sums believed to be transferred through other mechanisms.

Of the total, NIS 395 million was paid to terrorists currently imprisoned in Israeli jails. Another NIS 92 million went to families of terrorists killed while carrying out attacks. Terrorists released in recent hostage deals received what officials described as a “special grant.”

Security officials further told ministers that in recent months the PA reduced salaries for public-sector workers including teachers, doctors and nurses, in order to ensure the payments to terrorists were not affected. While the average monthly salary in the PA stands at roughly NIS 3,000, payments to terrorists can reach as high as NIS 12,000, according to the briefing.

Officials emphasized that the figures presented reflect known transfers and that additional payments are believed to be routed through other channels.

During the discussion, Minister Orit Strock addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly. “Just as Mordechai exposed to Achashverosh that Haman was a narrow and bitter enemy, and the great challenge was convincing Achashverosh of this, Netanyahu must convince President Trump that Abu Mazen is a narrow and bitter enemy,” she said.

Minister Avi Dichter also criticized the PA’s conduct. “All the Palestinian Authority’s shows won’t help. Abu Mazen himself said the Authority will keep paying terrorists’ families down to the last shekel,” he told ministers.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has raised the issue in diplomatic meetings, including at the United Nations last week, arguing that the PA continues to fund terrorists despite international scrutiny. Palestinian officials publicly criticized Sa’ar’s remarks.

In February 2025, Reuters reported that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree aimed at restructuring the system of financial allowances for prisoners and their families. Israeli officials told the cabinet that payments have continued despite those declarations. Reports cited in the discussion said the Trump administration previously threatened sanctions over the issue, Abbas dismissed a former finance minister, and the new finance minister continued authorizing the transfers.

In 2018, Israel passed a law requiring the government to deduct from the Palestinian Authority any amount it pays to terrorists and their families. Under that law, about NIS 4 billion has already been withheld from funds Israel collects on the PA’s behalf. It was not clarified whether the 2025 payments have already been deducted.

Separately, Israeli authorities recently collected and transferred NIS 258 million from PA funds to families of terror victims through legal enforcement mechanisms.

The prisoner payment issue remains a central fault line in Israel’s diplomatic engagement with the Palestinian Authority, and Israeli officials signaled it will continue to be raised in international forums.