PA announces, Israel confirms, release of PA tax funds to bank, salaries (to be) paid

There has been a collective holding of breath in Ramallah and the West Bank for the past 12 days, waiting to see if Palestinian Authority salaries would be paid.

They have been held up this month after the announcement of a Fatah reconciliation agreement with Hamas — considered by Israel [and the U.S., as well as other members of the Quartet, major donor countries to the Palestinian Authority] as a terrorist group.

Israel’s Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz said he would not release the money as expected because some of it could end up in the hands of Hamas.

The salaries – for between 150,000 employees in the West Bank, and an addition number of at least 30,000 paid not to work since Hamas has been in power in Gaza after its rout of Fatah/Palestinian Preventive Security Forces in mid-June 2007 — are due on the 5th of every month.

On the 4th of the month, Ramallah sources said that Israeli money would be paid — this was stated just hours after the White House announcement that President Obama would receive Prime Minister Netanyahu in the White House on May 20 (now, this coming Friday). They just didn’t say when the money would be paid, but the assumption was that it would be immediately.

U.S. Administration officials public, though even-toned, statements noting that as a new Palestinian national unity government had not been yet formed, there was no reason to withhold any money at this point.

A few days later, the Palestinian Authority [PA] Ministry of Finance called the bank in Ramallah to see if the Israeli refund payments had arrived. The answer, apparently, was “No”.

PA Prime Minister then made a series of daily statements, calling on Israel, then Arab governments who had not yet paid full amounts pledged, then on the international community to send money.

The EU immediately put money in the bank — but still the PA salaries were not paid.

The money was in the bank, but the Prime Minister and probably also the President wanted to maintain pressure on all parties…

France made a pledge of additional money.

Israeli media reports hinted that the Israeli government would “wait and see” for about ten or eleven days what was happening with the Palestinians.

The Palestinian parties have been taking their time about forming the new government.

But, Palestinian Authority security did apparently cooperate with the Israeli military concerning measures to contain the Nakba Day events on Sunday 15 May. If it weren’t completely obvious, a statement to that effect was made by the U.S. State Department spokesman during a briefing for journalists on Monday afternoon in Washington.

Hours earlier on Monday, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced that he had been informed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Quartet Envoy Tony Blair that the money Israel had been withholding was being released.

Later in the day, a statement was made by a Palestinian union of employees that the money for salaries had been paid into the Palestinian bank.

No public announcement had been made during this time directed to the Palestinian government employees, or to the general public, explaining to them what was happening, or what they could expect, or do.

Only one Palestinian bank offered an advance of 1,000 shekels [about $285 U.S. dollars] to its customers who were waiting for their salaried during this not-too-subtle game.

The Palestinian media reported that this was a hint — a very heavy-handed one — to Palestinians about what they could expect if they voted for Hamas in any future elections… as they did in January 2006, when Hamas won elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council or Parliament, to their own and general surprise, setting off a series of reactions that deprived the PA of Israeli tax refunds and donor money until July 2007, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dissolved a short-lived National Unity government and formed an emergency government that was Hamas-free…

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