Towards a National Strategy to Combat the Piracy of Clearance Revenues

Several news agencies, including the global Reuters agency and Haaretz newspaper, have circulated conflicting reports regarding discussions between the United States and Israel aimed at transferring part of the clearance funds held by Israel to the "Council for Peace" in the Gaza Strip to finance its operational plans there. If these reports are true, it would represent a dramatic development and a highly dangerous trend in the context of the seizure of the funds and rights of the Palestinian people; as clearance revenues constitute the main component of public revenues in Palestine, accounting for approximately (68%) of total public revenues. These funds are not a grant from the United States, Israel, or any other entity, but are purely Palestinian funds that belong to the public treasury, representing taxes paid by Palestinian citizens on goods and services imported from or through Israel, and thus no party, regardless of its nature, has the right to dispose of them under any circumstances.

In this context, it is necessary to clarify a set of key facts. The first fact is that clearance revenues are an inherent right of the Palestinian public treasury; they are funds collected from Palestinian taxpayers, not a grant or gift from anyone, and only the Palestinians themselves have the right to dispose of them. Israel collects these revenues under the Paris Economic Protocol that governs the economic relationship between the Palestinian National Authority and Israel, in exchange for an administrative commission estimated at (3%), without having any legal or political right to dispose of these revenues.

The second fact is that, despite the Israeli "Cabinet" decision to withhold the Gaza sector allocations from clearance funds since October 2023, valued at about (275) million shekels per month, the Palestinian Authority has continued to pay allocations for the sector, especially salaries for workers in education, health, social protection, and other sectors. Therefore, the withheld funds are not amounts specifically allocated for the Gaza sector in the future; they are public revenues that pertain to the entire Palestinian people.

The third fact is that the "Council for Peace," since its formation, has not presented tangible steps to rebuild the Gaza sector or alleviate the suffering of citizens, nor has it taken on the responsibility of paying salaries to employees or bearing the essential operating burdens, while the nature of its future commitments remains ambiguous and unclear.

Accordingly, any transfer of part of the clearance funds to this council falls within the framework of deepening the economic pressures on the Palestinians, aimed at undermining the Palestinian entity and depriving the Palestinian people of their financial rights, thus weakening the Palestinian Authority and pushing Palestinian society into a state of internal tension. This is openly expressed by Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich, who stated yesterday that he will work to target "every economic goal for the Palestinian Authority or others" within his powers.

In light of the current political polarization and "election fever" in Israel, it is expected that more extreme Israeli measures against the Palestinian economy and clearance funds will escalate, amid the competition of far-right parties seeking to outbid each other at the expense of Palestinian rights. This necessitates urgent Palestinian action and not waiting for new facts on the ground, especially since experience has shown that Israel races against time to entrench a political and economic reality that undermines the Palestinian entity through the gateway of the economy.

Hence, there is a need for a comprehensive national strategy to defend Palestinian financial rights, led by the government in partnership and integration with various components of Palestinian society, including political parties, the private sector, the banking sector, and civil institutions, aimed at combating the piracy of clearance funds, along with rallying broad international support, especially from brotherly and friendly countries and the European Union, to pressure for the halt of any actions targeting the funds of the Palestinian people.

In conclusion, the Israeli strategy is becoming clearer day by day, targeting the entire Palestinian entity, which means that individual or partial solutions will not be sufficient to address the crisis. Therefore, confronting attempts to seize Palestinian funds requires a collective effort with multiple paths, foremost among them a reassessment of the economic relationship with Israel, and taking advantage of international trends, especially the positions issued by France and Saudi Arabia, to push towards a review of the Paris Economic Protocol and establishing a new financial framework and a more just and transparent mechanism for transferring Palestinian clearance funds.