Israel Electric Company CEO Yiftach Ron-Tal is calling on the government to put the PA (Palestinian Authority) in the dark, literally. He feels that until the PA debt is paid, service must be halted.
Despite the countless sums donated to the PA by donor nations, and despite continued pleas to the Government of Israel to act, the PA continues to ignore its staggering 1.5 billion shekel debt and it continues to use Israeli electricity. For comparison sake, the government and others are outraged over the 1.3 billion shekel debt accumulated by the Hadassah Medical Organization, and in this case, the PA, which has the funds, opts not to pay and all is forgiven. The government turns to Hadassah women to flip the bill when it does not bother turning to its enemy to pay for its electricity.
Ron-Tal, a retired IDF major-general, well understands the ramifications of turning off the power, yet he remains adamant in pleas to government officials to compel the PA to pay the outstanding debt. To date, the shouts from Israel Electric have fallen on deaf ears.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
When I have been unable to pay my electric bill and amassed a whopping debt of 2,5000 shekels to the Electric Company, there was no hesitation to turn off my electricity.
If I stop paying my electric bill will my electric company forgive the debt and still provide power?
Yes, he is right. Turn it off. They can use batteries and generators.
Why should we pay for the P.A.? All it does is subsidize terrorism. Tell the EU to divert some of the funds to force them to pay their bills or just cut them off. Our bills are high enough. If they don’t pay, we get charged to cover it. Enough already.
Here is the governing principle of this problem, which is a variation on the rule that applies to banks with small debtors and big debtors:
When Yosef Six-pack is a year behind on his electric bill, Yosef Six-pack has a problem.
When the electric company’s biggest single customer is a year behind on its electric bill, the electric company has a problem.