Israel supplies most of the electricity used by the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. For several years, the PA has not paid its mounting debt to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), which now amounts to a total of 400 million shekels. Israel has uncomplainingly carried that mounting debt — until now.
A report on how Israel plans to exercise its right to payment is here: “‘Israel will not write off Palestinians’ electricity debt,'” by Ariel Kahana, Israel Hayom, November 2, 2021:
The Palestinian Authority owes the Israel Electric Corporation 400 million shekels ($128 million) in unpaid electric bills for Palestinian residents, Minister in the Finance Ministry Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beytenu) said late Monday [Nov. 1] in response to a query by MK Orit Strock (Religious Zionist Party).
Amar said that Israel would not forgive the debt and added that he had instructed the Israel Tax Authority to “coordinate a framework with the PA that would allow the debt to be removed gradually from the tax money Israel transfers [to the Palestinians].”
The IEC produces most of the electricity consumed by the Arab residents of Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip. According to agreements between Israel and the PA, the PA is supposed to pay for its residents’ electricity consumption.
Over the years, the Palestinians have amassed a massive debt for their electricity consumption, but the PA claims that it is unable to collect the money owed by residents who do not pay what they owe.
The PA has agreed to pay Israel for the electricity consumed by individual Palestinians. It then is supposed to collect from those individuals the amounts paid for them by the PA. But Palestinians are not reimbursing the PA, which claims it has no way to make them do so. It’s a curious claim, considering how much power the PA otherwise exercises over the Palestinians it rules over. Are we to believe that neither threats nor soft cajoling will work, and the PA remains helpless to exact electricity bill payments from those it controls?
Israel has made a few attempts at plans to collect the PA’s electricity debt. In 2017, a deal was reached that would allow Israel to deduct payments for the PA’s outstanding electric debt from the tax money it collects on behalf of the PA….
This deal, however, was never put into effect. Israel did not follow through and keep as payments on the PA’s debt for electricity part of the money it had collected as taxes for the PA and that ordinarily would be transferred by Israel to the PA. The Israeli calculation at the time was that the PA was in such dire straits that it was in danger of losing control in the West Bank to Hamas, and that however bad the PA was, for Israel it was still preferable to Hamas. The IEC continued to supply electricity to the PA, and the PA continued to run up an ever-greater debt to the IEC.
The Israeli government in 2019 came up with a plan to rescue the PA, that would allow it to settle its electricity bill. Israel agreed to provide the PA with a “special loan” of $155 million, earmarked for paying down its outstanding electric bill; the electricity would then keep being supplied by the IEC without any interruption of service. The “special loan” would then be repaid by the PA to the government of Israel at a later date, taken from the tax money Israel collects for the PA and normally transfers to it.
Israel is not going to write off the debts of the PA to the IEC, no matter what an Arab MK belonging to the far-left Meretz party may suggest. A loan is not a gift. Israeli leaders know that their loan of $155 million will be sufficient to allow the PA to pay in full its outstanding electricity bill, and that there is enough tax money being collected for the PA by Israel to pay back, over a short time, that loan. Of course, it is in Israel’s interest to keep the PA in power. The Israelis know how unpopular Mahmoud Abbas is; more than 80% of Palestinians have expressed their dissatisfaction with his rule, and especially with the colossal corruption he, his family, and his cronies, have engaged in; Abbas and his sons Tarek and Yasser have amassed a $400 million fortune. And Abbas is a despot, now in the sixteenth year of his four-year term as President, a man who first holds out the possibility of elections and then cancels them when he realizes he would lose, crushes his opponents, and even allows his goons to murder them, as happened this summer to the leading dissident and enemy of Abbas, Nizar Banat. But on the other hand, Abbas does allow continued security cooperation with Israel: Hamas is as much a threat to him as it is to Israel, and Israelis believe it is in their interest to help shore up his position, given the alternative — Hamas — to his rule..
Recently, Israel announced it would grant legal residency to 4,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, allowing them to get official IDs, as a gesture to the Palestinian Authority. This is one of a series of gestures announced after the meeting this August between Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, aimed at strengthening the PA. Other gestures include authorizing an additional 15,000 permits for Palestinian laborers to work in Israel and its settlements. And in late October, Israel gave the go-ahead for 1,303 new dwellings to be built by the Palestinians in Area C, where Israel exercises complete control, of the West Bank. Finally, there is that ”special loan” of $155 million from the Israeli government, which will allow the PA to pay down its mounting electric bill. The lights will not be turned off in the Palestinian territories. And the payment plan is simple: from the taxes that Israel collects for the PA, it will now withhold, from transfer to the PA, the amounts needed to pay down both that “special loan,” and the new debts that will need to be paid for electricity provided by the Israelis.
Once again the Israelis will have come to the rescue of the Palestinian Authority. But Jerusalem should not expect any gratitude from Mahmoud Abbas or any appreciation from the Bidenites in Washington, for its attempts to shore up the PA. The Israelis will continue to prop up Abbas for as long as they can, for bad as he is, he is better than Hamas. And the lights will not be going out in Ramallah, or Jenin, or Gaza City.
Frank Anderson says
Before I went to law school I spent 2 years in charge of meter maintenance for an electric cooperative. With 3 of the finest, most reliable technicians I could imagine in one place, well over two thousand defective and tampered meters out of 30,000 accounts were found and replaced. Those meters failing to measure and bill the proper people forced others to pay more. The cheats and deadbeats knew they were not paying, whether from a failed meter or their own tampering. They also knew they were stealing from their neighbors, in some cases for years.
In order for power to be available, ALL of the costs must be paid by someone: If not the party actually using it, then from those who pay more to cover the loss. It is nothing more or different than theft or shoplifting, and should be treated that way to discourage it. As long as Israel plays sucker, this will continue. The price of power in Israel is far higher than in many areas of the US without the additional burden of paying for power to terrorists. When power is being stolen there is no incentive to conserve: on the contrary this is just another way to attack Israel.
mortimer says
Economic jihad against Israel. They must be proud. But I would think it’s a matter between the IEC and individual customers who have an account. If the account is not settled, the power gets cut off. If the Pally administrators want to pay the unpaid bills, the power will be restored.
Frank Anderson says
friend mortimer, IEC is in the same position as the wholesale suppliers of power to the electric cooperatives that employed me. They do not deal with or bill the individual customers. The cooperative in my case, and “PA”: receive the wholesale power, provide the distribution facilities, read the meters and send the bills, whether or not they are collected and paid. IEC has no “privity of contract” with the final consumers. The hilarious part of this fiasco is that operating the distribution system costs the PA big money.
If I were IEC’s advisor, I would suggest looking into obtaining an Israeli court judgement for the unpaid money, with a declaratory judgment allowing shut off of power and garnishment of PA funds that Israel holds and handles. There is no sense in Israel submitting to this crime.
Proud Islamophobe says
I both agree and disagree. Israel isn’t stupid and they know they can’t be provocative, no matter how in-the-right they are. That’s why Israel hasn’t attacked Iran in the past under Bibi. Gaza and the West Bank are small places compared to the other 20-odd moslem countries that surround Israel that have rockets pointed towards her at all times. No matter how much confidence we have in Israel, Israel can’t combat thousands of rockets (not even hundreds). I also believe that Israel is thinking of the moslem children. The do-or-die scenario (for lack of better wording) is correct; the problem is that the moslems don’t need an excuse to attack Israel, so to give them one – a good one in fact – is not an option. and let’s not forget what the world would say – and do – against Israel if she dared to do the right thing; so, unfortunately, it isn’t a matter between only the IEC and the “customers.” As it is, the world is abandoning Israel despite all the good she does now. Besides all of this, we all know that the moslems have no intention of paying the bill. I have no doubt that Bibi knew this.
mortimer says
Start collecting the money from the most important customers among the Pallies, and then go down to the poorest of them one at a time. The Pallies will quickly settle when their own inner circle gets their power cut off.
Keith O says
Top Idea Mortimer, except that the only way to do that will be to freeze all the accounts of the arseholes who are running the show and somehow I don’t think the international banking system will have the balls to do that.
Infidel says
This looks simple: Israel should just cut off the electricity until they get paid. End of discussion
Frank Anderson says
I., if it were just you and me, your suggestion is outstanding. My uncle called me at times the “Hatchet Man” because my boss loved to saddle me with problems he did not want to handle. I have dealt with a lot of collection problems from much more “civilized and law abiding” people than the Israeli’s face. And I have literally hundreds of threats of violence and 2 bullet holes in my car to prove it, from people in the Southern US. I also had to deal from time to time with Public Service Commission inquiries regarding both collections and tampering issues; all of which were very quickly and satisfactorily resolved..
By taking the issue to court, obtaining a declaratory judgement and following the court’s order, IEC has the best legal and PR posture available. If anyone objects, they can pay the bill. But giving away hundreds of millions of dollars worth of outrageously expensive electricity is unacceptable.. A MASSIVE THEFT is being conducted by a CONSPIRACY THAT INCLUDES THE PA. If I were making legal decisions, this would be criminally charged and prosecuted against all involved.
If you look into Israel electric rates, they are amazingly high compared to most US states.
Infidel says
Undoubtedly, the cost of Israeli consumers subsidizing the Palis
Frank Anderson says
I., please know of my strong support for Israel. That does not mean I set aside 50 years of experience in the electric utility business, as a co-op student, engineer, computer programmer, supervisor, contract negotiator and lawyer, to blindly agree with some amazingly awful decisions regarding sources and expenses.
The cooperative which employed me before law school had never in its 40 years of operation done anything to find, much less stop tampering, and next to nothing to find and correct failed meters. Where engineering calculations showed line losses, (the difference between purchases at the substation and sales at customers’ meters) should be less than 6 percent of 400 million kilowatt hours per year, it was almost 10 percent. Four percent of 400 million is 16 million, at 2 cents each, before the impact of the 1973 oil embargo, honest customers had to pay ONLY 10 dollars a year more for stolen power.
But I was there from 1973 to 77, as the rates rose from 2 cents to 5, and the line losses grew until the technicians started finding tampered and stopped meters. Meter readers would report 0 consumption meters on active accounts for years and never raise an alarm. By reprogramming the billing computer, over a thousand such meters were found and corrected.
When customers compared bills, one bragging about his low bill to another with a much higher bill,. we started testing both and found the low one the result of tampering. Then we started testing whole neighborhoods in a few days instead of never, and got the losses down to the 6 percent expected.
The PA is part and parcel of a criminal fraud, a swindle, that is harming the Israeli economy. Just as the little thieves I faced, this big thief is being allowed to steal tens and hundreds of millions of dollars from the people of Israel.
I doubt there is a lot of difference between US and Israeli law on conspiracy, 1) an agreement 2) of 2 or more persons 3) for an unlawful purpose or to use unlawful means for an otherwise lawful purpose 4) any over act by any ONE of the conspirators in furtherance of the goal. The goal is to steal money and power from Israel. The overt act is the failure to pay for the goods and services provided. The agreement and parties are the PA and the consumers, it allows to take service without paying, therefore refusing by the PA to pay for what it receives from Israel Electric. “The knowledge of one is the knowledge of all. The acts of one are the acts of all.” The PA is just as guilty of a conspiracy to defraud and steal as any of its consumers.
gravenimage says
If you look into Israel electric rates, they are amazingly high compared to most US states.
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This is *not* the only reason, Frank. Israel has no oil, and no major rivers to dam for generating electrical power. They do an amazing job with what they have.
Frank Anderson says
GI, I read many years ago IEC agreed to pay 1 dollar per kilowatt hour for power produced from solar ponds. That is comparable to the true cost from wind and solar plants, and more than 6 times the cost of coal fired generation. US nuclear generation runs between 30 and 50 cents per kilowatt hour when all costs are included. Under the conditions in Israel, stealing hundreds of millions of US dollars in value is dirt simple IF THEY ALLOW IT.
gravenimage says
Frank–with all respect–I see no reason to think that Israel is stealing American dollars.
“Most energy in Israel comes from fossil fuels. The country’s total primary energy demand is significantly higher than its total primary energy production, relying heavily on imports to meet its energy needs…
Electricity consumption in Israel was 57,149 GWh in 2017, while production was 64,675 GWh, with net exports of 4.94 TWh. The installed generating capacity was about 16.25 GW in 2014, almost all from fossil fuel power stations, mostly coal and gas fueled. Renewable energy accounted for a minor share of electricity production, with a small solar photovoltaic installed capacity. However, there are a total of over 1.3 million solar water heaters installed as a result of mandatory solar water heating regulations…”
Frank Anderson says
GI, I CANNOT BELIEVE YOUR INCREDIBLE IMAGINATION. I have said NOTHING about Israel stealing from the US. I CONTRIBUTE to Israel. The PA is stealing from Israel. The muslim PA is using this stolen power to run rocket production, tunnel projects, bomb factories and laughing all the way that the Jews are providing the power needed for everything while the muslims make war on the Jews.
On a smaller scale, my technicians found a meter that had been bypassed on a “well known” local character who operated a farm and feed store. He had stolen over 40,000 dollars worth of power from the cooperative in the time of 14 years, to run a pig barn, chicken house, pump and other equipment. It is clear a cooperative employee connected all that ahead of the meter so he could steal. When he was billed for the stolen power, I was fired. The thief’s friendship with a director worked. And the members paid, which included me, because I was on the same cooperative at my one and only house.
gravenimage says
OK, Frank. Thanks for your reply.
Fitna says
Last I heard Israel is allowing 1.8 million Arabs to enjoy the privilege of living in Israel-all the while they hate their host nation. How many Israelis live in Arab nations? Zero.
Why do these insane double-standards continue? Israel needs to rid themselves of any entanglements with Arabs. Also if there are no Fakestinians in Israel, then they can no longer falsely claim the land belongs to them.
Throw them out, stop providing power, and it’d be best to cut all trade and any connections to this parasitic enemy.
I once saw an astonishing interview with one Palestinian woman. She seemed really nice at first and I thought finally we found one that’s not an evil person like the others. It appeared she accepted Israel’s existence, but in fact she later revealed that she just recognized Israel was militarily stronger.
She said if the Arabs were powerful enough, then they could’ve wiped out the Jews. Then people wonder why we ‘stereotype’ Muslims, they really are all the same and we just don’t want to be honest with ourselves.
Israel needs to cut themselves off completely from these evil people. I understand for humanitarian reasons, they should gradually remove the power until they can supply their own, but it’s time for Fakestinians to look after themselves and stop mooching off Israel and infidel countries.
Charlie in NY says
There’s a common theme that is unmistakable. Here, the PA enters into an agreement to pay the costs of electricity. They don’t but expect Israel to continue supplying electricity regardless. It knows that Israel will get slammed internationally for “collective punishment”, “ethnic cleansing” or whatever. I recall the phony photograph of (either PA or Hamas) officials huddled around candles – though it turned out that the scene was staged as it was shot during the day which required the shades to be drawn to create the appropriate atmosphere.
The same strategy is used by the Sheikh Jarrah tenants who in the early 1980s agreed that ownership was not theirs and would pay rent … which they then defaulted on. And, as expected, a run-of-the-mill landlord-tenant dispute gets elevated to an international incident. If such a defense were mounted in any Western court, that party and its attorney would be facing sanctions.
But, as the Palestinians in general are widely viewed as being without agency (until, it seems, they get their state at which point they will be expected instantaneously to transform into civil libertarians), they always present the exception to every rule and must be accommodated … by the Jews.
gravenimage says
+1
Hugh Fitzgerald says
Yes, I agree with so many of the exasperated comments above. it is maddening, how much the Palestinians get away with and expect always to do so. The Israelis are far too accommodating – look at that proposed Sheikh Jarrah settlement, which would allow the deadbeat Arab tenants to pay a peppercorn rent of $62.50 a month, for the next 15 years, and what’s more, would forgive all that they have run up in unpaid back rent over many decades. The Palestinian leaders made the families, most of whom wanted to accept the proposal, turn it down. They want the Israelis to have to evict them. Think of the visuals they will carefully prepare: Arab mothers, tearfully surrounded by their mediagenic brood, leaving “the only house they’ve ever known,” while the cameras roll. Those endlessly cruel Israelis, looking on, implacable, at the human tragedy that they created..Und so weiter.
StacyGirl says
I agree that Israel accommodates treachery from the animals calling themselves Palestinians, and believe it’s due to their belief in the true forgiving God and worldwide pressure. I’d say lights out and let some other benevolent nation step in. At this point it would be Biden.
gravenimage says
All grimly true, Hugh.
gravenimage says
The Palestinians and Their Unpaid Electricity Bill
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And even now, Israel is *not* threatening to cut off the juice–just to take what is owed out of taxes they collect foer the PA. Sounds more than reasonable to me.
Derek says
This is in effect the state of Israel accepting dhimmitude …. till now.
OLD GUY says
Muslims/Islamics think the rest of the world owes them a living and must take good care of them. Islam expects a free ride, paid for by the infidels. This is the same as paying a criminal organization for fire insurance so they don’t burn your business to the ground.
joanofark06 says
Gee, I think I might of archived an article, that says that Biden is sending the Palestinian leadership, thousands of dollars (or whatever their type of money is), or was it millions…?
Or was it another country I’m thinking about…Egypt?
gravenimage says
You aren’t wrong, Joan:
“Biden administration to restore $235m in US aid to Palestinians”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56665199