They’re walking out of prison as millionaires. As Israel continues to release hundreds of terrorists in a lopsided hostage exchange deal, many will return home to bank accounts swollen with years of payments from the Palestinian Authority’s “Pay to Slay” reward program.

According to Palestinian Media Watch, of the 734 terrorists released during the fourth round of swaps, they collectively received over $141 million, with nearly half of them accumulating more than a million shekels each.

“In another society, if a criminal goes to jail for murdering someone, he’s ashamed about it. In the Palestinian Authority, they go around with a crown on their heads,” Palestinian Media Watch director Itamar Marcus tells JNS.

“When they’re introduced, and in interviews, even years after they were released from jail, they’re called Asra (“Prisoner”). That’s their title. It’s like an ambassador. It’s actually similar to POW. They have a different word for criminal prisoners. For the PA, they’re legitimate fighters, even if they killed women and children.”

When Israel passed a law in July 2018 to withhold tax revenue equal to these terror payments, the PA found creative workarounds. After a 2020 campaign led to the closure of 33,000 bank accounts under anti-terror financing laws, they first routed payments through post offices before establishing a dedicated bank whose sole purpose was to launder the money.

Beyond swelling the ranks of terrorists it recognizes as prisoners, the PA also continuously accepts Hamas’ skewed death toll figures in Gaza. Those 45,936 so-called “martyrs” are now eligible for one-time payments of $1,600 plus $385 monthly stipends to their families.

“What’s outrageous, of course, is a person who’s living at home, working, who’s got five or six kids and needs the money—his salary you’re cutting to 70%. But the prisoner who’s getting everything—all his food and everything taken care of by Israel—that’s the one who’s getting 100%. So it’s just a message of values,” Marcus notes.

The same terrorists who burned families alive and  committed atrocities too horrific to describe are now headed home showered in riches. Meanwhile, the families of their victims are left only with graves to visit and nightmares that never end.

The moral perversion is beyond comprehension.