Posted on 10/14/2002 9:25:25 PM PDT by eclectic
On the eve of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's visit to Washington, Israel and the US reached an understanding Monday to enable the transfer of some NIS 2 billion in frozen tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority.
The US has recently applied heavy pressure to release the remainder of the funds as a way of easing Palestinian hardships.
Israel's position has been that it would only release the funds when it is convinced a supervision mechanism is in place that will assure the money will not fund terror organizations.
A senior source in the Prime Minister's Office said Monday night that the mechanism was set up at a meeting Monday between Palestinian Finance Minister Salaam Fayad, Prime Minister's Bureau chief Dov Weisglass, Foreign Ministry Director-General Avi Gil, Finance Ministry Director-General Ohad Marani, US Ambassador Dan Kurtzer, and Maj.-Gen. Amos Gilad, coordinator of government activities in the territories.
The source denied this understanding was an attempt to "give" the US something prior to Sharon's visit, and said Israel had long wanted to free up the funds, but was waiting for the right mechanism to be created.
The new mechanism will reportedly require the PA to deliver a list of who is on its payroll to American and European officials, who will monitor the PA's finances from inside the PA's Finance Ministry.
Israel froze Palestinian tax revenues shortly after the outbreak of the violence in September 2000. It began releasing NIS 210 million -- in three equal installments -- in the summer.
The last installment was paid following a meeting Fayad attended in Washington last week. These payments were widely seen as an attempt to prop up his standing in the PA.
The Finance Ministry issued a statement after the meeting saying the talks were held in a "good atmosphere," and it was decided to continue discussions on the matter.
As recently as Sunday's cabinet meeting, both Gilad and Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein said money already transferred to the PA had fallen into the hands of terrorists.
Gilad said it would be a mistake to release more funds into PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's hands, since he uses the money either directly or indirectly to fund terrorism.
Rubinstein criticized the government for releasing the funds without the PA having undergone any real change and without any real supervision over where the money is going.
Construction and Housing Minister Natan Sharansky, who has been a vociferous opponent to releasing the funds, said Monday he was "shocked and appalled" by the understanding and called it a "march of folly."
"Irrespective of any agreement on 'supervision' by American observers, it is inconceivable that we will conspire in the payment of monies to the very people killing and maiming our citizens," he said. "By giving money to prop up Arafat's dictatorship, Israel is again risking the probability that the funds, as in the past, will be used to finance terror activities, without any form of accountability. Where is our sense of logic and decency? We are fighting a war here and paying our enemy for the privilege."
The Likud Knesset faction also reacted angrily to the agreement.
MK Yuval Steinitz termed the transfer of the funds as a "scandal." He said that Israel should not have given into US pressure, especially after it convinced the Europeans to halt funding to the PA.
Steinitz also said that a nation does not give money to the enemy in a time of war. "There has been no cease-fire and no Palestinian commitment to stop terror," he said.
MK Michael Eitan, who confronted Sharon at a faction meeting, said Monday night that Israel should not give money to a "corrupt regime" that will only use the funds to finance terror. He said that during war, there must be a "total freeze in the assets of the enemy." Instead, Eitan said that instead the money should be used to give direct assistance with food, education, and health care to Palestinians who are not involved in terror.
According to Eitan, the unsupervised transfer of the funds is the same as giving weapons.
Sharon told the meeting that efforts are being made to ensure supervision of the funds. He added that the funds "do not belong" to Israel, but to the Palestinians and were only collected by Israel.
MK Benny Elon (National Union) said the decision is "most grave" and a sign that Israel will be giving into more US pressure. Elon, speaking from the US after attending a pro-Israel Christian conference, said he believes that the transfer is a "down payment" to the US. He said it will likely be followed by keeping quiet during the war against Iraq, followed by agreeing to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
He said that the government has first accepted a "cosmetic change of Arafat" and is now going to be backing PA terror. He said the funds should be used instead to offset the losses to the economy caused by Palestinian terror.
Nina Gilbert contributed to this report
I believe they should "transfer" the money by converting it to pennies, packing a semi-truck trailer with them, and dropping it from a chopper onto Yasser Arafat.
You missed a step: the one where everyone blames Israel, and repeats the lie about a Palestinian homeland.
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