A day after his rare meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced Aug. 30 that Israel will transfer $155 million to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The Times of Israel reports that the deal will enable Israel to bypass a 2018 law that requires the Israeli government to withhold a portion of the tax revenue it collects on behalf of the PA as punishment for the stipends that Ramallah awards to Palestinians jailed in Israel and their families. The newspaper reports that the newly announced cash transfer will be funded using the roughly $186 million in tax revenues that Israel confiscated earlier this summer.
