Sources in the Palestinian Authority (PA) have told TPS that the possibility of receiving the tax money from Israel through a third country is being examined, despite the official freeze of ties between the PA and Israel.
According to one of the officials in the PA, Germany’s name came up as a country that would serve as a conduit for the funds’ transfer, and another source said that Jordan was also mentioned as a possibility.
Since the PA announced in mid-May that it was severing relations with Israel, it has refused to accept all the tax money collected by Israel on its behalf, as well as the NIS 800 million loan approved by Israel to deal with the Coronavirus crisis.
This led to a severe budget crisis, which the PA’s Finance Ministry estimates led to a loss of 90% of its revenues, and since then there have been many protests in the PA, including demonstrations by PA officials who have so far received less than half their salaries.
In recent days, TPS has reported that behind-the-scenes contacts are taking place to renew the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and between the PA and the United States, and that encouraging messages have been received in Ramallah about avoiding Israeli measures to declare sovereignty in parts of Judea and Samaria in the near future.