Long overdue’: experts back US move to halt Palestinian security aid
Experts praised a US freeze on financial aid to the Palestinian Authority Security saying the move was necessary against Ramallah’s “pay for slay” salaries to imprisoned terrorists.
The freeze was confirmed to The Press Service of Israel by two Palestinian journalists, one of whom is close to the PA leadership.
“The decision of the Trump administration to halt all funding to the Palestinian Authority’s so-called ‘security forces’ was long overdue,” Maurice Hirsch, a legal expert and director of the Initiative for PA Accountability and Reform at the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, told The Press Service of Israel.
Experts argue that this move is not just a financial change, but a direct challenge to the policies that have long shaped international relations with the PA.
“While this funding was intended to help the PA combat terror, in reality, it helped create a terror army. The members of these forces were often complicit in terror activities themselves, only acting against terrorists who threatened the PA’s own political power,” Hirsch explained.
Hirsch’s remarks were in line with findings by non-governmental organizations on the close ties between Palestinian security personnel and terror groups.
According to Palestinian Media Watch, 63-65% of Palestinian “martyrs” in Judea and Samaria were linked to Fatah or the PA’s security forces.
Among them was Ahmed Barghouti, who was freed on Feb. 15 as part of the hostages release deal with Hamas.
Barghouti, now 48, was serving 13 life sentences for masterminding a series of suicide bombings and shooting attacks that killed 12 Israelis during the Second Intifada and linked to numerous other attacks. He joined the Palestinian police in 1999 while participating in shooting attacks on soldiers in the Ramallah area.
In 2001, he was elevated to Marwan Barghouti’s bureau chief who directed and coordinated numerous attacks. Marwan Barghouti, who is related to Ahmed, was the overall commander of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades during the Second Intifada.
Israeli authorities repeatedly submitted Ahmed Barghouti’s name to the Palestinian Security Services, but they refused to arrest him and even tipped him off to Israeli efforts to arrest him. Israeli soldiers finally caught him on April 15, 2002.
During his time behind bars, Barghouti collected $338,00 in “salary” paid by the Palestinian Authority to imprisoned terrorists, according to Itamar Marcus, director of the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Media Watch.
And a 2024 report conducted by the Regavim Movement, documented numerous instances of PA security personnel being directly involved in terror attacks. The report criticized the PA for cultivating a culture it said glorified violence by honouring terrorists and holding military funerals for them.
The US funding freeze “is a clear acknowledgment of the true nature of the Palestinian Authority, which shares ambitions with Hamas,” Regavim Director General Meir Deutsch. “This decision sends a message to Israel to abandon failed strategies and bring about much-needed change.”
Moran Tal, who authored Regavim’s report, told TPS-IL in January, “The Palestinian Authority is a hub for terrorists. They host terrorists from groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, not just Fatah.,”
According to Hirsch, “In the long term, ending the funding to the PA, in general, and to its terror army, i particular, will, without a doubt, result in an improvement in the security situation.”
The move comes amidst an executive order from President Donald Trump suspending most foreign aid programs pending a 90-day review.
