Hundreds of millions of shekels for terrorists: A new study in a dramatic exposure
A comprehensive examination reveals that the extensive financial support of the Palestinian Authority has enabled senior officials released in the Shalit deal to return and rebuild their power, including Yahya Sinwar and other senior officials who planned the attack.
A comprehensive examination by the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs and Security presents a worrying picture regarding the way Palestinian government institutions budget for terrorists. The findings show that the mechanism of rewarding acts of hostility is not limited only to prisoners behind bars, but functions as a lifelong financial safety net for those who have finished serving their sentences in Israeli prisons.
The study determines that this is not a fleeting initiative, but an established system deeply anchored in the laws of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO. Former prisoners receive significant benefits that include generous release grants, a fixed monthly living allowance, guaranteed income and placement within the institutions of the Palestinian Authority, or alternatively, a pension for those who were not actually placed in a job.
The report points out that this financial support played a critical role in rehabilitating the command structure of Hamas. Many terrorists who were pardoned as part of the Shalit deal in 2011 used the financial backing of the Palestinian Authority to return to the ranks of terrorist organizations and advance to key positions. Among the prominent figures who benefited from these allowances are senior officials such as Yahya Sinwar, Rawhi Mushtaha, Tawfiq Abu Naim, and Zaher Jabarin — all of whom had a decisive part in the planning, budgeting, and execution of the murderous surprise attack on the Gaza envelope communities.
The research team based its conclusions on a wide variety of information sources, including: Palestinian laws, regulations, and presidential decrees, public statements by the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, open reports of the Palestinian Authority budget, intelligence materials from the Shin Bet, and publications by government officials in Israel, as well as analyses by independent research institutes.
Another central point that emerges from the document is the financial conduct of Ramallah in recent years. Despite Palestinian announcements about changing the mechanism and a planned reform in 2025, the leadership effectively admitted that hundreds of millions of shekels continued to flow into the pockets of terrorists. Moreover, the reward policy did not stop even after the events of October, and the only change that took place was in the technical and administrative manner in which the money is transferred.
The researchers argue that the financial safety net of the Palestinian Authority effectively neutralizes the economic risk involved in carrying out attacks. This policy provides a clear incentive for the continuation of the armed struggle and allows veteran field operatives to devote themselves entirely to building power and leading terror without worrying about their livelihood.
The Palestinian Authority is not a partner, but a body that supports terror and finances it. According to this view, Israel should completely stop any cooperation with it, offset all funds from it, and even bring about its collapse.
