Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s resolution to switch $35 million in Palestinian tax revenues to victims of Palestinian assaults is “extraordinarily wrongheaded,” and must be reversed, the State Department stated Thursday.
Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated the choice is damaging to Palestinians and Israel’s pursuits.
“It’s important that the Palestinian people have the ability to access their funds, to fund their government, to pursue other activities as they deem fit,” he advised reporters in response to a query from Anadolu.
“This kind of decision is extraordinarily self-defeating. It doesn’t just hurt the Palestinian people. It hurts Israel’s interests as well. The Palestinian Authority has worked incredibly hard to maintain calm, to maintain stability in the West Bank over the years, especially since Oct. 7, and this kind of action by the Israeli government risks destabilizing the West Bank and further harming Israel’s own security,” he added.
Smotrich stated in an announcement that the withheld funds could be transferred to Israeli households whose members have been killed in Palestinian assaults.
Last week, the Shin Bet home safety company warned that Israeli authorities insurance policies in opposition to the Palestinian Authority (PA) within the occupied West Bank could result in its collapse. The PA paid solely 50% of civil servants’ salaries final month following the choice by Israel to withhold tax revenues from the Ramallah-based authority.
The tax revenues, identified in Palestine and Israel as maqasa, are collected by the Israeli authorities on behalf of the PA on Palestinian imports and exports and Israel in return earns a 3% fee.
The revenues are estimated to complete round $220 million each month and symbolize the principle supply of earnings for the PA.
Source: www.anews.com.tr