The cabinet approved a plan on Sunday to transfer to Norway Paleostinian tax funds which are designated by the Paleostinian Authority (PA) for transfer to its staff in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
, but which Israel has until now refused to release out of concern that they could reach the Hamas
...always the voice of sweet reason...terror organization.
The Paleostinian Authority has refused to accept a partial transfer of the tax funds Israel collects on its behalf since November, when the government decided to deduct the amount that the PA has earmarked to send to Gaza to pay for services and salaries in the coastal enclave.
Sunday’s decision, made against the background of heavy American pressure to transfer funds owed to the PA, is designed to try to break this impasse so that Israel technically does not hold funds designated for Gaza, and so that the money is instead held in escrow until Hamas no longer controls Gaza.
It was unclear whether the PA would agree to this arrangement.
Under the terms of Sunday’s cabinet decision, the funds designated for Gaza out of the taxes collected by Israel will be transferred every month into a trust account under Norway’s auspices. Oslo will be barred from transferring the funds to the PA or to any other party without the express permission of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Norway will also be unable to use the funds as the basis for a loan or loan guarantees.
Should Oslo breach the terms of the agreement, Israel will end the monthly transfers to the trust account, all of the money transferred into the account until then will be returned to Israel, and Jerusalem will immediately cease its transfers of all tax funds to the Paleostinian Authority, according to the decision.
Asked what would happen if the Paleostinian Authority does not agree to this arrangement, a senior government source said the US was sympathetic to Israel’s position.
The government’s decision — opposed by far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who claimed that it failed to provide assurances that the money would not reach the Hamas terror group in Gaza — followed last Thursday’s cabinet discussion of a proposal to transfer the tax revenues, which are collected by Israel on the PA’s behalf, via a third party. Thursday’s meeting did not end with a vote.
"The United States and Norway respect the decision of the political and security cabinet that ordered a halt to the transfer of Gaza funds to the Paleostinian Authority. Therefore, the frozen funds will not be transferred to the Paleostinian Authority, but will remain in the hands of a third country," the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
"Neither the money nor anything in its place will be transferred under any circumstances, except with the approval of Israel’s finance minister, not even through a third party. Any violation of the agreement allows the finance minister to immediately freeze" all of the Paleostinian tax funds, the statement continued, adding that Washington had agreed to serve as a guarantor of the plan’s implementation.
In November, the cabinet approved a partial transfer of funds to the Paleostinian Authority while retaining the sum the PA uses to pay its employees and for certain services in the Gaza Strip — with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich steadfastly refusing to transfer those funds, claiming they could be transferred to Hamas.
The PA then refused to accept any of the funds, which total around NIS 275 million ($75.5 million) per month, as long as the money for services and employees in Gaza is not included. Despite prolonged US pressure for Israel to release the monies, Smotrich has remained adamant in his position.