Lt. Col. (res.) Adv. Maurice Hirsch, former military prosecutor in Judea and Samaria, revealed in an interview with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News that 160 of the 250 convicted terrorists released in the latest hostage deal were freed as millionaires, having accumulated large sums in Palestinian Authority (PA) salary payments during their years in prison.
Hirsch, now a senior figure at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, emphasized that “under PA law, this is not a custom, but a law [PA chair Mahmoud] Abbas advanced. The PA pays every single terrorist a monthly salary, which increases the longer they are in prison. Those who entered prison in 2000-2001 have amassed millions with these payments. They receive NIS 8,000 per month - a huge sum by PA standards,” he explained.
Hirsch noted that Israel, under a now-cancelled policy, once allowed the PA to transfer larger sums to security prisoners' canteen accounts than for other inmates. Meanwhile, their salaries accumulated in bank accounts facilitated via the Red Cross, which transferred bank details from prisoners to the PA, allowing them to become millionaires upon release.
Hirsch noted that in 2006, the salaries were raised significantly, and in 2011 they increased by a staggering 300%. “Millions flowed to these terrorists each month. The Israeli Defense Minister publishes annual reports on PA payments to terrorists, amounting to NIS 500-600 million for the terrorists, not including salaries paid to families of dead terrorists.”
Hirsch pointed to the absurdity of the system, adding, “The moment a terrorist enters prison, the PA classifies him as an employee. The longer the ‘employment,’ the more your experience, and the salary rises with the years. It's important to note that there is no distinction between a murder-committing terrorist from Fatah, Hamas, or Islamic Jihad. Every terrorist is considered a PA employee.”
His review revealed that 160 terrorists released in the current deal emerged as full-fledged millionaires.
“Veteran terrorists, receiving the highest-tier salaries since 2011, accumulated over one million shekels each, and it doesn't end. The terrorists receive a release grant worth tens of thousands of dollars, plus those jailed for more than ten years are entitled to a guaranteed PA job with a high salary,” Hirsch said, noting that by doing this, the PA ensures that its senior civil service is increasingly composed of released terrorists.
He added that a past survey showed the PA had more Major-Generals than the US Army, because the number of released terrorists qualifying for general rank is so high.
Hirsch criticized Israel for enabling this system, saying the reason the PA has this much money is the Israeli government.
“This is the result of the Paris Protocol in the Oslo Accords. We agreed to transfer taxes to them in order to buy peace, but instead the PA used that money to murder Jews. If we had shown a little bit of backbone and stopped this 14 years ago, immediately after it was discovered, peace might have materialized instead of collapsing.”
Instead, he continued, “We saw the violations and turned a blind eye, overlooked that the PLO never changed its charter, allowed incitement in schools and payments to terrorists. Everything was breached, and we remained silent because we never insisted they uphold their commitments.”
The key lesson today, he concludes, is clear: “If we do not insist on every little detail of the current agreement, we will soon find ourselves in another war. If we do not insist on every last hostage being returned and Hamas disarming, we will find ourselves facing Hamas just as we are now facing the PA that rewards and encourages terror.”