RAMALLAH, January 23, 2018 (WAFA) – The Palestinian government denounced on Tuesday an Israeli finance ministry decision to cut half a million Israeli shekels ($145 million) from the Palestinian tax money to compensate collaborators.

The cabinet discussed in its weekly meeting in Ramallah the Israeli decision and said that the Israeli finance ministry has decided to cut the amount from the taxes and customs Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians on goods imported by Palestinian businesses that enter the West Bank and Gaza Strip through Israeli ports.

It said an Israeli district court had ruled in favor of Palestinians who sued the Palestinian Authority for compensation after they claimed they were tortured on suspicion of spying for Israel and ordered the PA to compensate them for damages.

“This amount is only the first installment in a series of payments that could reach millions of shekels the Israeli government intends to seize for this dubious allegation” said a Palestinian cabinet statement.

“This measure is nothing more than an Israeli piracy of Palestinian funds and is part of a policy to seize Palestinian tax revenues employed by the Israeli government on several occasions while it refuses to provide the Palestinian side with the details of what is being deducted from these revenues and its insistence to dispose of the Palestinian funds on its own volition as its refuses to check all bills since the establishment of the (Palestinian) Authority and its refusal to resolve outstanding financial records.”

The cabinet said it will take all necessary measures to retrieve the Palestinian financial rights.

M.K.