Abbas backs down on decision to refuse clearing funds
Crippled by a severe financial crisis, the Palestinian Authority has recently accepted the clearing funds from Israel that it had been refusing for eight months.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced Oct. 7 that Israel transferred to the Palestinian Ministry of Finance 1.5 billion Israeli shekels ($428 million) from the withheld clearing funds, following an agreement between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel, according to Israeli Channel 13 on Oct. 4.
This amount is only part of the total clearing funds withheld by Israel since February, which amount to $1.44 billion. The monthly clearing funds Israel collects on behalf of the PA amount to $180 million, and constitute 60% of the PA’s budget.
The PA agreed to receive these funds after it had been rejecting them for eight months.
The agreement came after Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon met Oct. 3 with PA Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh in Jerusalem. Sheikh contacted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the meeting and got his approval after briefing him on the details of the agreement.
