Morton A. Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), has called on President Donald Trump and his administration to set clear, non-negotiable conditions before considering any meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. According to Klein, such a meeting should be contingent on Abbas enacting substantive reforms that address the core drivers of incitement and violence in Palestinian society.
Klein stated, “Before President Trump decides whether to meet with Palestinian Authority’s terrorist dictator Mahmoud Abbas, he should demand that Abbas cease paying Arabs lifetime pensions to killers of Jews; change his textbooks promoting hatred and violence against Jews; call for the Palestinian elections that were due 15 years ago; and apologize for calling Jews ‘filthy.’ These reforms must be considered a must in order to demilitarize and deradicalize Palestinian society both in the West Bank and Gaza.”
Klein’s demands echo longstanding U.S. and Israeli concerns about the PA’s controversial “pay to slay” policy, payments to families of Palestinians imprisoned or killed for attacks on Israelis. In February 2025, Abbas announced a restructuring of the payment system, shifting from direct salaries to so-called “welfare” payments for families, a move critics, including Klein, describe as a cosmetic change designed to skirt U.S. law and international scrutiny while continuing to incentivize violence.
Klein emphasized that these payments, along with incitement in PA-controlled media and education, remain major obstacles to peace. He also highlighted the lack of democratic accountability under Abbas, who has ruled by decree since elections were last held in 2005, and pointed to inflammatory rhetoric, including Abbas’s past antisemitic statements, as further evidence of the need for reform.
In addition to ending terror payments and incitement, Klein has previously urged that the PA must:
- Rename public institutions honoring terrorists,
- Remove anti-Israel symbols from official emblems,
- Cease payments to Hamas,
- Disassociate from terrorist organizations,
- Publicly condemn all forms of Palestinian terrorism.
Klein concluded that only by making these reforms can the PA demonstrate a genuine commitment to peace and justify continued U.S. engagement and aid. He warned that superficial changes or rhetorical gestures would not suffice, and that the U.S. must hold Abbas accountable for both his policies and his public statements.