The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported on Saturday that the Cabinet is expected to approve, in its meeting scheduled for today Sunday, the transfer of tax funds to the Palestinian Authority via Norway after deducting the portion allocated to the Gaza Strip.
The state broadcaster stated, “The Cabinet is anticipated to support the transfer of Palestinian Authority tax funds through Norway, but only after deducting the funds designated for Gaza.”
The report added that all members of the government are expected to back the decision, with the likely exception of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is predicted to oppose it.
Ben-Gvir has called for more details on the guidelines for transferring the funds, including information about the assurances that Israel will request from Norway to prevent the money from reaching Gaza, as per the Broadcasting Authority.
On Friday, the Broadcasting Authority revealed a preliminary agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on transferring the tax funds to the Palestinian Authority via a third country.
The Palestinian Authority has not commented on the Israeli Broadcasting Authority’s report.
Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority for Palestinian imports on imported goods. These funds, normally amounting to 750-800 million shekels (approximately 190 million dollars) per month, are supposed to be transferred to the Authority, with normally 270 million shekels (around 75 million dollars) allocated for the Gaza Strip.
The funds for Gaza are distributed as 170 million shekels for the salaries of Authority employees in the Strip, and 100 million shekels for paying the fuel bill of Gaza’s power station.
Collapse of the Authority
Over the past few months, the U.S. administration has repeatedly urged Israel to expedite the transfer of tax funds to the Palestinian Authority.
On January 4th, Washington warned Israel that failure to transfer the tax funds to the Authority “would lead to its collapse, as these are the main source of income for it.”
The Palestinian Authority relies on these tax revenues to pay its employees’ salaries. For the period from October to December 2023, there was a three-month salary delay, while half the salary was paid to the employees per an agreement with local banks.
