Hamas terrorists. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

A top American Jewish umbrella group urged on Thursday the Palestinian Authority (PA) to end its financial support of terrorists and their families.

The statement by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations followed a Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) report that the PA planned to pay terrorists three months’ salary in advance to circumvent a new Israeli law that was to come into effect on Thursday.

“Once again, we demand that the Palestinian Authority stop encouraging and incentivizing terror through its reprehensible pay-to-slay policies rewarding acts of terror against Israelis by financially compensating perpetrators and their families with so-called martyr payments,” the statement said. “Palestinian leadership is going to extraordinary lengths to continue these payments, insisting on paying convicted terrorists a three month, lump sum ‘salary’ before the end of the year.”

“The pay-to-slay scheme is an unconscionable insult to the memory of the many innocent victims of Palestinian terrorism from Israel, America, and around the world,” it added. “The international community must recognize this as a barbaric and unacceptable practice that incentivizes terror and bloodshed. More countries are cutting aid to the PA to protest this abhorrent practice. The Palestinian Authority must discontinue these immoral payments immediately by abolishing its ‘Martyrs Fund.'”

“Global attention must be drawn to the fact that this policy exists and persists, and we urge all who respect the dignity of human life to condemn it unequivocally,” the Conference of Presidents implored.