'באמצעות חשמל מישראל המחבלים חוצבים מנהרה'

After Israel Electric Company CEO Yiftach Ron-Tal on Monday promised to cut off electricity in Gaza if the bill is not paid, Arutz Sheva interviewed him on the subject, asking for more details.

"We've heard this promise that you'll cut electricity to Gaza if they don't pay their electric bill. The question is, what is really going to happen?" an Arutz Sheva reporter asked.

"First of all, we've already cut it off, several times," Ron-Tal responded. "Secondly, we're a government company. Processes such as this need to be done only with government approval. We're not completely independent - not at all. If it wasn't a government company, we would cut off the electricity.

"If we weren't a government company, which deals with a sensitive diplomatic issue, I think it would be correct business-wise in this situation to cut it off. And that's also the law - you can't buy something and not pay for it, you can't receive a service and not pay for it. There's no such thing. It doesn't happen.

"But yes, we've cut it off a few times.

"We are in the process of negotiating - and I hope this will work out - a solution. And the solution will be as follows: First of all, an initial payment of 570 million NIS, as a kind of down payment. This was already agreed on three months ago.

"Second of all, the rest of the debt will be paid in 48 monthly payments, beginning as soon as the agreement is signed. Third - and this is still being negotiated - a plan for ensuring there will be no more 'bleeding,' that there will be no more debts accrued.

"Fourth, and this is most important, an external guarantor for the PA which will ensure there will be no more debt accrued.

"We should finish negotiating this plan within the next three months. And we believe, if it ends positively, I really hope this problem will be behind us. And if not, we'll have to think about what our next steps will have to be - legal steps. We will have to tell the relevant parties and we will have to cut their electricity off.

"I don't like knowing that the electricity we supply to Gaza is being used to dig tunnels. It's not okay, but it exists. I state my opinion only when it is appropriate to state it. And the alternative is worse. The alternative is that there will be electricity in Gaza - and the Egyptians are connected to Gaza, but they hardly supply any electricity.

"There's only one power station in Gaza, and it hardly produces anything. Israel is basically the only one providing Gaza with electricity. Even now, the average citizen only has electricity for half of the day. I think we should allow them to build their own power station and get them off our backs. There's no reason in the world we shouldn't do that."

The Palestinian Authority provides 70 million NIS worth of Israeli electricity to Gaza every month, and has promised to foot the bill. However, they have not paid the bill, and currently owe Israel over 2 billion NIS (more than $530 million).