As has been the case over the years, the Israel Electric Company, which is owed enormous amounts of money, has to threaten to shut off power to Gaza and PA (Palestinian Authority) areas before it is paid.
For the PA, paying the utility company has never been a priority and for Israel, concern over international pressure has compelled it from prohibiting the utility company from leaving Gaza in the dark. The government usually intervenes in one way or another at the last moment rather than have Israel be accused of leaving innocent people without power. For the Hamas regime in Gaza, paying for services received is not an issue.
In the utility company’s latest threat, it states electricity to Gaza will be cut off in the coming days if the bill is not paid.
The last agreement reached was between Israel and the PA in which the PA finally agreed to pay is staggering debt of over NIS 2 billion in 48 installments and this sum does not even include the money owed by Gaza. Donor funds are stolen regularly by PA and Gaza officials while the world remains silent and bills go unpaid.
What is even more amazing is most Gaza residents only receive a few hours daily of electricity, two-to-three hours, while Israel supplies electricity 24/7. Needless to say, the Hamas leaders have electricity around-the-clock.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
I believe the PA failure to pay its electric bill is a bogus issue for Israel Electric. The government of Israel collects taxes for the PA and remits the taxes periodically to the PA. I believe (but I am not sure) that the last time the PA was in chronic, long-term default on its electric bill, the Israeli government took funds out of the PA tax revenue that Israel held and owed to the PA and paid down a significant portion of the electric bill.
The curiosity in this article is why all Palestinians don’t get 24/7 electric service.
Arabs are not stupid and have learned throughout the years to swallow these threats because it’s nothing more than that unlike Israeli Jews who get their electricity cut off if they’re 1 month late.