Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree on Monday claiming the PA would be restructuring its payments to the families of killed and incarcerated terrorists, an announcement that some observers have framed as the end of the PA’s controversial “martyr payment” program.

But others, including U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, are not taking the announcement at face value, arguing that the PA cannot be trusted to fully end the program, also known as “pay-for-slay.”

Per an English translation of Abbas’ order, the “martyr payment” system and database are being transferred to the Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment, a theoretically independent body whose leadership is appointed by Abbas. 

The order indicates that those who previously received martyr payments would no longer receive special treatment, instead being subject to the “same standards of comprehensiveness and justice” applied to any Palestinian welfare applicants, “without discrimination … similar to the various social welfare systems adopted by different countries of the world that have strong and institutionalized social care systems.”

The U.S. and American lawmakers have long pushed for the payment system, which totals more than $300 million annually, to be abolished and restructured as a regular social welfare system without special preference for families of those killed or imprisoned for terrorist activity.

PA leaders have long claimed to U.S. officials that the “martyr payment” program is not designed to reward terrorism, but rather is a social welfare program for families facing hardship because their family members have been killed or imprisoned.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry dismissed the announcement as a “fraudulent exercise” by which the PA will “continue making payments to terrorists and their families through other channels.”

U.S. lawmakers who’ve been critical of the program were also skeptical that the PA is ending it.

“It would be naive to think that after years of facilitating terrorism against Israelis and Americans the Palestinian Authority would suddenly have a change of heart,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who has sponsored legislation to impose additional sanctions to stop the martyr payments, told Jewish Insider. 

“They should also be held accountable for their past actions,” Cotton continued. “Congress should immediately pass my bill imposing sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials and its institutions.”

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said it “remains to be seen” whether the announcement is “credible.”

“While I hope it’s true, it doesn’t change the fact that the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Liberation Organization have been incentivizing the murder of Israeli civilians for decades through these martyr payments,” Moskowitz said. “It’s why I led the bipartisan PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act last Congress and why I’m continuing my efforts to crack down on these unconscionable rewards for those committing acts of terror in Israel. Ending pay to slay is a prerequisite for any chance of peace in the region.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told JI, “The United States knows better than to trust the corrupt and compromised Palestinian Authority.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said in a statement: “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“There’s a reason we are planning to reintroduce the PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act in the 119th Congress, precisely because this brazen and abhorrent practice was still in effect up until today,” Lawler said. “If this cancellation actually does result in the end of pay-to-slay terrorism, it will go a long way towards finding a permanent, peaceful solution to the conflicts we’ve seen in the Middle East. I remain cautiously optimistic that will be the case — but we must see the Palestinian Authority follow through on this.”

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) told JI that he’ll “believe it when it’s done. It’s long overdue. It’s been a problem for more than a generation. If they are ending it, it’s a good thing.”

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) said that “if it’s true, it’s excellent.”

“And even if it’s not, even if they don’t really effectuate it, the fact that they pretend to effectuate it is a step forward,” Sherman told JI. “I forgot who said, ‘Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue.’ Just admitting that they shouldn’t do it is a good step. Actually not doing it is better.”

A spokesperson for Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said, “Senator Rosen has always been clear that the Palestinian Authority’s disturbing policy incentivizes terrorism, is an obstacle to peace, and needs to be brought to an end.”

Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) said he hadn’t seen the PA’s announcement but that it would be a “welcome and encouraging development.”

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that he hadn’t seen the PA announcement but that it would be “good news” if the PA followed through.

“I think maybe they know that there’s a new president that may be putting some leverage on them, and they want to make nice,” McCaul said.

Those in the U.S. who have monitored the program off Capitol Hill are also skeptical that the PA will follow through.

Sander Gerber, the CEO of Hudson Bay Capital and the architect of the Taylor Force Act, which bans U.S. aid to the PA as long as it continues the payments, said, “You have to approach it with cautious optimism. The U.S. State Department is very hopeful, but unless you see mass protests in the Palestinian territories, there’s no way this happened.”

Gerber noted that more than 40,000 people in the Palestinian territories are receiving “martyr” payments, and revoking those payments would inevitably spark massive protests. He explained that the maximum payment provided under the PA’s standard social welfare system is less than half of the minimum “martyr” payment, which would mean massive cuts for tens of thousands of Palestinians.

He also argued that there’s no reason to transfer the “martyr” payment database to the new authority except to continue the payments through other means, and said some of the language in Abbas’ order suggests that welfare payments will be awarded based on metrics other than economic need.

“It seems like [Abbas is] trying to create a new entity that’s going to combine both the prisoners, martyrs and the welfare program in this new entity,” Gerber said. “Will the new entity administer payments based on economic need? We won’t know until it’s actually implemented. So I think it’s a little too soon to get excited.”

But he also said that the PA has told the State Department “that this is real and that payments will be based strictly on humanitarian criteria. That’s what they’re telling them, but that’s not what the statement says.”

Gerber described the announcement as an obvious response to pressure from the Trump administration. 

Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow and the director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that PA officials have long insisted that ending the program “was not possible” due to sensitivities in Palestinian society which would leave the PA looking “weak on the issue of Palestinian prisoners.”

Levitt told JI that it’s not clear yet “how real this is” but that such an announcement is “a long time coming.”

“If it’s done, it’s very welcome news, but we have to hold people’s feet to the fire to make sure that it is what people are saying it is,” he continued. “Until we’re sure, the Taylor Force Act should not be repealed. No other sanctions should be repealed. We’ve got to make sure that this is actually happening.”

Levitt said the Biden administration had been working on the issue for years and that the announcement was “arguably … pretty much ready to go” but the PA “decided to hold this as something as a deliverable for the Trump administration.” He said that the Trump administration helped bring the announcement “across the finish line.”

Levitt added that recent circumstances, including the PA’s need for additional funding, the international push for the PA to be part of postwar governance in Gaza and the recent release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners had created an impetus and opportunity for reform. 

He said he sees the announcement as part of the PA’s efforts to preserve its own relevance in the post-Oct. 7 period, although it was in the works long before President Donald Trump’s recent proposal to assert U.S. control over the Gaza Strip.

Jewish Insider’s senior political correspondent Lahav Harkov contributed reporting.