Minister of Foreign affairs and expatriates calls on Arab countries to provide financial safety net

Minister of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs, Riad Malki called today upon the Arab countries to provide the Palestinian government with a financial safety net to help it cope with the financial crisis resulting from Israel’s withholding of the Palestinian tax revenues.

Malki said President Mahmoud Abbas will deliver an important speech tomorrow before the Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers, in which he will address the dangers facing the Palestinian issue in the coming stage, and the need to emphasize the basic Arab constants regarding the Palestinian issue.

He said 19 Arab foreign ministers and one state minister will be attending tomorrow’s meeting, which reflects the commitment of the brotherly Arab countries to the Palestinian cause.

In February, Israel entered into effect a law passed last year deducting millions of dollars in tax revenues collected by Israel every month on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, equal to the amounts of the salaries the PA pays to the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the families of those killed by the Israeli occupation forces.

The monthly customs revenues Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority amount to more than $120 million, while the deducted money will be about $32 million.