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Israel, Palestinians sign deal to settle electricity debt

Xinhua, September 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) signed Tuesday a deal to resolve an outstanding debt in unpaid electric bills, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

The PNA accumulated a debt of about two billion shekels (about 530 million U.S. dollars) in unpaid electric bills.

Under the deal, the PNA will pay Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) 570 million shekels (about 151 million dollars) in 48 payments, a statement by Israel's Finance Ministry said. The rest of the debt will be erased.

Also, the management of the operational and commercial aspects of Palestinian electricity market, which has been under Israeli control, will be under the responsibility of the Palestinian National Authority.

Israel also promised to release 1.14 billion shekels (about 302 million dollars) of Palestinian taxes and costume which Israel withheld in the recent years.

The deal was signed by Israel's Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Major General Yoav Mordechai, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), and Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh.

It followed year-long negotiations between Kahlon and his office, COGAT officers, and Palestinian government officials.

According to Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was briefed on the agreement, but his diplomatic-security cabinet has not held any discussions on it or been briefed on it.

Kahlon hailed the new deal. "The agreement ensures regular supply of electricity and economic development for the (Palestinian) authority," he said in a statement released by his office.

"A stable Palestinian economy is an economical, political and security interest of Israel," he said.

The statement also quoted al-Sheikh as saying that "transferring responsibility to the Palestinians will allow complete control of the electricity consumption of Palestinian residents. This agreement will allow the IEC to manage its engagement with the Palestinians through one address."

The IEC had carried out power outages in the West Bank in April 2016 and January 2015 over the debt, facing criticism that the act is a form of "collective punishment" for the Palestinians, who depend on Israel for their supply of electricity.

Israel occupied the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip territories in the 1967 Mideast War.

The IEC provides most of the electricity to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a total of approximately 120 megawatts. Israel sells the electricity to the PNA, who sells it to Palestinian distribution companies that supply it to households.

The PNA, which governs the Palestinian territories in the West Bank in accordance with the 1993 Oslo Accords, is financially strapped and largely depends on foreign aid to support itself. Endit