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Israel continues withholding Palestinian tax money

January 12, 2015 at 11:19 am

The Palestinian government is unable to pay civil servants salaries as a result of Israel continuing to withhold Palestinian tax revenues, Palestinian finance ministry spokesman Abdul Rahman Bayatneh said on Sunday.

Israel collects taxes on goods and commodities coming into or going out of Palestine across international borders, which amount to nearly $175 million per month.

Bayatneh said in a telephone call to Anadolu news agency that the Palestinian government does not have the funds necessary to cover civil servant salaries amounting to $170 million.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper has previously reported that Israel wants to put pressure on the Palestinians in response to President Mahmoud Abbas’ request to join the ICC earlier this month.

Palestinian interim prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, said earlier this month that Israel did not transfer the Palestinian tax revenues as scheduled, which means that December’s salaries will be delayed.

The Palestinians fear their livelihood and economy will be affected by the delay and hope that Hamdallah’s government will find a quick solution to this problem.

Ragheb Dweikat, a public school teacher, told Anadolu reporters that he uses his monthly pay cheque to cover his debts and that if he did not receive his monthly salary he could face jail time.

Palestinian merchant, Khalil Mikdadi, also said that not paying the salaries of public sector employees may affect business conditions in the market. Mikdadi pointed out that the Palestinian domestic market is weak, because it depends mainly on public servant’s salaries.