PA denies reports it will accept tax revenue from Israel again this month

The PA began refusing to receive the funds earlier this year when Israel began deducting payments to terrorists and their families from tax revenues.

Palestinian women walk past a money changer in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 16, 2010. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/File Photo (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN)
Palestinian women walk past a money changer in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 16, 2010. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/File Photo
(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN)
The Palestinian Authority denied reports claiming that it would begin accepting tax revenue funds from Israel again, with Secretary General of the Palestinian Council of Ministers, Amjad Ghanem, saying that the reasons for the refusal still remained, meaning the PA would not accept the funds.
Watan News reported on Sunday that Ghanem had told them that the PA is expecting to start receiving tax revenues from Israel later this month, after refusing to receive the revenues since earlier this year. The report was circulated by additional Palestinian media outlets.
All public employees in the Palestinian Authority will be paid full salaries once the funds are received, said Ghanem.
"We hope that we will win the political battle with the occupation and have the ability to recover the funds for compensation and end political blackmail," added Ghanem to Watan news, saying that efforts are being made in this regard and that the PA hopes to receive the funds this month.
Ghanem stressed that while there are many details concerning the "efforts" being made to receive the funds without any concessions by the PA, the result of the efforts is all that concerns civilians.
All imports to the PA go through Israeli checkpoints, and Israel collects VAT and tariffs for the PA. Those funds are the largest source of income for the PA. Israel also collects income tax and health insurance funds for Palestinians who work for Israelis.
As of October 8, Israel had amassed over NIS 2.5 billion that the PA refused to take in protest against the deduction of payments to families of Palestinian security prisoners and "martyrs" and in protest against plans to annex parts of the West Bank.
Khaled Abu Toameh and Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.