WASHINTON — The State Department has settled a lawsuit over the Biden administration sending more than $1.5 billion in taxpayer money to the Palestinian Authority, in apparent violation of federal law.
Under the deal with America First Legal, the State Department agreed to adhere for the next 10 years to the Taylor Force Act of 2018, which bars the US from sending certain types of aid to the Palestinian Authority until it agrees to stop financing its Martyrs Fund.
Critics have alleged the fund constitutes a “pay for slay” scheme, rewarding families of Palestinians killed or detained while carrying out attacks against Israelis.
The law is named for Taylor Force, an American MBA student and Army veteran who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in the seaside city of Jaffa on March 8, 2016.
The initial lawsuit, filed against then-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in December 2022 by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas); Force’s parents, Stuart and Robbi; and terror attack survivor Sarri Singer, accused the Biden administration of “unlawfully laundering U.S. taxpayer funds through non-governmental organizations to directly benefit the Palestinian Authority.”
“As a victim of terrorism and a survivor of a Hamas bus bombing, I have lived with the painful reality that the person who carried out the attack against me is not only honored, but that his family receives monthly payments because of that act of violence,” Singer lamented, praising the settlement.
“This settlement brings a level of accountability and helps ensure that the U.S. is not contributing, even indirectly, to incentivizing terror.”
Stuart Force similarly hailed the deal with the Trump administration.
“Today is also a bittersweet day. My wife, Robbi, is not here to share the good news,” he said. “As we tirelessly worked with Congress years ago to pass this federal law to stop the flow of taxpayer dollars to the Palestinian Authority and their Pay to Slay program, Robbi was also fighting medical challenges due to the loss of our Taylor.”
Jackson called the settlement “a win for the victims and families harmed by the Palestinian Authority’s Pay to Slay program, as well as for the American people.”
“When President Trump signed the Taylor Force Act into law in 2018, the United States made clear it would not tolerate or reward terrorism—yet Joe Biden’s decision to ignore that law put American lives at risk,” he added. “I’m grateful the Trump Administration has taken decisive action to correct this failure.”
America First Legal was founded by current White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller and has close ties to the Trump administration.
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