High Price: Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Palestinian leader, is one of scores of convicted terrorists who receive monthly stipends from authorities in Ramallah. Image by getty images

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Washington Post says it has debunked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that the Palestinian Authority pays $350 million a year to Palestinian terrorists and their families.

The amount could be up to two-thirds smaller, according to the Post in its Fact Checker feature.

Netanyahu used the $350 million figure a week ago in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The State Department, by law, already deducts from its Palestinian aid budget a figure that represents the amount of money the Palestinian Authority pays to people convicted of terrorism, according to the Post, but the exact number is classified. That amount is “significantly smaller” than the amount used by Israel, according to the report, which noted that the Israeli government itself does not have an official estimate.

The Post suggests that a big problem is “definitional.” It acknowledges that there are $350 million in annual payments listed in the P.A.’s annual budget for Palestinian prisoners, “martyrs” and injured, but it is not clear that they are all terrorists, as Israel insists they are.

The Palestinians acknowledge making payments to the families of suicide bombers and those convicted of heinous attacks, the Post also reported.

The Fact Checker also said that about 700 Palestinian members of the security forces in Israeli prisons are paid under a separate system in the P.A. security budget that includes salaries and promotions.

It also noted that from the Palestinian perspective, many of the people held by Israel are considered “prisoners of war.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount