Overview
- The Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs and Security study, published Tuesday, November 10, 2026, reports the PA continues to disburse an estimated more than 20 million shekels every month to prisoners through nonbank channels.
- Researchers say the PA moved payments from closed bank accounts to cash via post offices and a dedicated ATM network that operates outside the normal Palestinian banking system.
- The study documents a formal payment scale that rises with sentence length, with roughly 1,400 shekels per month for the first three years, about 4,000 after five years, and up to 12,000 for sentences over 30 years.
- Israeli enforcement has been limited: defense-minister seizure orders since 2019 cover about 50 million shekels but authorities have recovered only around 15 percent of that sum, the report finds.
- The study recommends concrete steps to halt the program, including arresting PA and PLO officials, seizing ATM deposits before withdrawal, confiscating assets and expanding international sanctions, while warning that tougher measures carry diplomatic and security risks.