posters calling to boycott Israel
posters calling to boycott IsraelFlash 90

The Finance Committee, headed by MK Nissan Slomiansky (Jewish Home) will discuss the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s boycott of Israeli products on Tuesday, as well as its lasting implications. 

"The Knesset's Research and Information Center's investigation shows the folly of the State of Israel, which allows the Palestinian Authority to celebrate at the Israeli taxpayer's expense," said Slomiansky. 

"There is no limit to audacity and absurdity," he continued. "On the one hand, there are debts to the Israeli Electric Company - 1.6 billion shekel - and on the other, the PA subsidizes two companies which boycott Israel. We must put an end to this." 

Last week, Channel 2 reported that the Palestinian Authority had released an official letter calling Palestinian business owners to boycott all goods made ​​in Israel, while ensuring that economic incentives to boycott supporters. 

"Shopkeepers who boycott Israeli goods will be entitled to a full exemption from the fee for a business license for a year, and a 10% discount on its electric bill for six months," the letter stated. 

According to the report, there is a response to the boycott of the Palestinian street and private initiatives emerge. "Our goal is to promote the principles of the boycott by all the Palestinian people, which could affect economic about the products and the factories of the occupation," said one of the leaders of the boycott, Ammar al Ztari.

The PA owes a staggering amount of debt to Israel, specifically over electricity.

An energy market insider told AFP earlier this year that the outstanding debt of the JDECO and PA to the IEC currently stood at 1.5 billion shekels ($434 million/315 million euros) of which around two-thirds was owed by JDECO. 

The IEC is suing the private Palestinian Arab firm for $150 million in unpaid bills, after negotiations to settle the debt collapsed. 

Additional debts amount to no less than 4.8 billion dollars, or 13% of the PA's GDP, it was revealed in May - a debt the PA blames on Jews in Judea and Samaria for "unpaid taxes" to Ramallah.