Gottheimer leads bipartisan legislation to end payments for terrorism against Israel

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), and Claudia Tenney (NY-24) Thursday introduced the bipartisan PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act to help end the martyr payment system known as “Pay to Slay,” where terrorists and their families are financially rewarded after committing bombings, stabbings, or other attacks in Israel.

For years, the Palestinian Authority’s Martyrs’ Fund has rewarded deadly acts of terrorism with monetary payments. This depraved practice incentivizes terror — the deadlier the attack, the more money the families of terrorists receive.

Teaneck native Sara Duker, a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, and high school graduate of Frisch School in Paramus, NJ, was one of the two Americans killed in the February 25, 1996, terrorist bombing in Jerusalem that killed 26 people.

According to public reporting, since Duker’s death, the terrorist who orchestrated the bus bombing — Hassan Salameh — received nearly $300,000 in payments from the Palestinian Authority, more than $2,000 a month, while in jail for his role in this bombing and two others, which killed a total of 46 people.

“For years, the Palestinian Authority has supported “Pay to Slay,” a policy to compensate the families of terrorists who murder innocent civilians, including Sara Duker from Teaneck. That’s why I’m proud to lead the bipartisan PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act to help put an end to these disgusting payments that only serve to incentivize more terrorism,” said Gottheimer. “We must hold the Palestinian Authority accountable for this decades-old policy and ensure they finally stop rewarding the slaughter of innocent Israelis and Jews.”