RAMALLAH, Tuesday, January 22, 2019 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday that there is no reason to hold any meetings with its Israeli counterpart at the World Economic Forum at Davos since Israel did not respond to Palestinian requests to resolve a number of outstanding financial issues between them, according to a Finance Ministry statement.

It said that it has contacted the Israeli Finance Ministry over the past weeks to discuss financial issues, including the commission Israel deducts from Palestinian tax revenues, “which is a Palestinian right, in order to hold a meeting at international forums Israel has been seeking to arrange.”

It said since Israel did not respond to Palestinian requests to resolve these issue, then a meeting at Davos Israel had wanted to hold is not justified.

“In order not to mislead the Palestinian public opinion as a result of reports in the Israeli media regarding the participation of the Ministry of Finance and Planning in the Davos World Economic Forum, the Ministry decided that there is no benefit or reason at the time being to accept the Israeli request” for a meeting at Davos.

It said that Israel did not give any positive indication that it is ready to resolve any of the outstanding issues.

M.K.