Israeli Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked encouraged U.S. efforts to pressure the Palestinian Authority to end the longtime practice of paying terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks against Israelis and Americans.

Shaked, currently on a trip to the United States that will include a visit with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, said during a Wednesday event at the Hudson Institute that Israel "definitely needs" the United States' help to put an end to the practice. Shaked added that Israel would be "grateful" for the passage of the Taylor Force Act, legislation that would cut U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority until it ceases to pay monetary awards to terrorists and their families.

"A lot of money is going to prisoners in jail [convicted of terrorism offenses] and also to their families," Shaked said. "We have tried many times to block the transferring of money, but I think that we definitely need your help."

"I think that if President Trump and Congress put pressure on it, the Palestinian Authority will not have a choice and will have to stop it," she said. "The United States can definitely help us and if it succeeds we will of course be very grateful."

Shedding light on how "totally absurd" the practice has become, Shaked cited the 2011 massacre of the Fogel family—both parents and three children ages 11, 4, and 3 months—by two Palestinian terrorists.

"If you murder more, you get more money," Shaked said. "For example, the murderers of the Fogel family, of babies and two parents, are getting more than $4,000 a month in prison. It's totally absurd."

A group of Republican senators urged President Donald Trump to demand an end to the practice during his meeting last week with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. The senators asked Trump to publicly express support for the Taylor Force Act.