Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. Photo: Facebook.

JNS.org – Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) is exploring the possibility of using the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) tax revenue, which Israel collects on the PA’s behalf, to pay off debts owed by Palestinian individuals to Israelis, her office said on Thursday.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, a mechanism was set up by which Israel collects taxes — value added tax and customs fees — on behalf of the PA, amounting to approximately $100 million a month.

Palestinians’ debts to Israelis currently stand at some 500 million shekels ($140 million), which the Palestinian Authority has been unable to collect from 20,716 individuals.

The situation involves 53,506 cases in which court orders or writs of execution have been issued by the Justice Ministry’s Enforcement and Collection Authority in cases where Israelis involved in transactions with Palestinian were not paid or provided the service for which they paid.

All cases involve transactions under NIS 75,000 ($21,000).

Shaked has reportedly asked her office to explore whether the Palestinian Authority could be held liable for the debts and whether Israel could deduct these sums from the PA’s monthly tax revenue.