The FM said the funds were held up because of the PA’s ‘fighting against the State of Israel.’
By World Israel News Staff
After Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decided to withhold tax funds from the PA, the PA responded that it could only pay 50% of public sector salaries.
Smotrich has withheld the transfer of NIS 170 million shekels ($46 million) to the Palestinian Authority because of the PA’s “fighting against the State of Israel,” a reference to the fact that the PA supports the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other members of Israel’s government on alleged war crimes.
The PA says it can only afford to pay 50% of its public sector employees after the Finance Ministry withheld tax funds last month.
Smotrich also withheld tax revenues from the PA earlier in the war because of the concerns that they would find their way to Hamas.
An agreement was reached in February to transfer the funds through Norway to ensure they wouldn’t reach Hamas.
Smotrich also stated his reason for withholding funds in February was to avoid providing funding for terrorism, particularly the PA’s “Pay for Slay” policy that gives funds to families of terrorists.
He announced in February, “For the first time, I signed a double offset of terror money that the PA transfers to terrorists’ families,” he said. “We have deducted 100 million shekels instead of 50 million up until now.”
“Furthermore,” Smotrich added, “we deducted an additional NIS 200,000 that will be transferred as compensation to the families of terror victims, in accordance with the court’s ruling. The PA funds terrorists, but now the State of Israel is saying: enough is enough. The citizens of Israel will not be part of this farce.”
According to 2018’s so-called “Pay for Slay” law, the government is supposed to withhold an amount of tax money it collects for the PA from Palestinian workers in Israel that is equal to the financial support the Authority provides to jailed terrorists and the families of those killed in attempted or actual attacks.
The PA pays hundreds of millions of shekels each year on a sliding scale, with those committing the most heinous crimes receiving the highest salaries. The PA consistently vows that it will never stop the payments no matter what Israel does, even though the tax revenue is a vast part of its budget.
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