The Knesset General Assembly finally approved, on Tuesday, a law that legalizes the confiscation of funds from the Palestinian Authority's clearance revenues. The approval came in the second and third readings, making this measure an enforceable law, after it had previously relied on individual ministerial decisions.
The proposed law, submitted by Likud MK Avihaï Boaron, received the support of 29 out of 120 members, while only 5 members opposed it. The new legislation aims to freeze funds that the occupation authorities claim the Palestinian Authority allocates as salaries for prisoners and the families of martyrs.
Under the provisions of the law, the Ministerial Committee for National Security Affairs will determine the amounts to be deducted annually, based on periodic reports submitted by the Minister of Finance. This step is considered an escalation in the financial war waged by the occupation government against official Palestinian institutions.
The new mechanism stipulates that the deducted funds will be transferred directly to the treasury of the occupation state, with priority given to settling debts resulting from Israeli court rulings. These rulings relate to compensation demanded by Israelis who claim to have been harmed by operations carried out by Palestinians in recent years.
Current Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had consistently deducted these compensations from clearance funds under administrative instructions. However, the new law transforms this practice into a binding legislative text, thereby reducing the scope for legal or political maneuver to stop these deductions.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its absolute rejection of this law, describing it as an expansion of the theft of the Palestinian people's money. The ministry affirmed in an official statement that this measure falls within a systematic colonial policy aimed at financially undermining the Palestinian entity.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry stressed that this step represents a blatant violation of the agreements signed between the two sides, especially the Paris Economic Protocol. It also considered that the Israeli legislation disregards the rules of international law that govern the relationship between the occupying power and the occupied people.
Clearance funds are taxes collected by Israel on goods imported for Palestinians through border crossings that it fully controls. These funds are the main source of the Palestinian Authority's budget, primarily used to cover public employee salaries and operational expenses.
According to the Paris Economic Protocol signed in 1994, Israel charges a 3% commission for collecting these taxes on behalf of the Authority. The annual value of these commissions received by the occupation treasury amounts to approximately 102 million US dollars.
Since 2019, the occupation authorities have adopted a policy of financial deductions under various security and political pretexts, plunging the Palestinian Authority into a suffocating financial crisis. This policy has led to the Authority's inability to meet its financial obligations and pay full salaries to its employees for several years.
Observers believe that the legalization of these deductions by the Knesset aims to exert maximum political pressure on the Palestinian leadership amid current tensions. These laws also contribute to deepening the living crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip due to declining purchasing power and the halt of development projects.
Human rights and economic institutions warn that the continued Israeli piracy of Palestinian funds could lead to a complete collapse of the Authority's service system. This law comes at a time when the Palestinian territories are witnessing a significant escalation on the ground, further complicating the political and economic landscape.
The new law represents a colonial measure that falls within a systematic policy of illegally seizing and deducting Palestinian funds.
שתף את דעתך
Knesset Approves Law to Legalize Confiscation of Palestinian Clearance Funds