In a precedent-setting decision, the Tel Aviv District Court ordered yesterday the freezing of four million shekels that Israel was to transfer to the Palestinian Authority. The money originates in Value Added Tax funds that Israel collects for the PA. Terror victim Shlomi Dan, who has been wheelchair-bound since being hurt in a terrorist attack six years ago in Tel Aviv\'s Dizengoff Center, is suing the PA for five million shekels. His lawyer maintained in court that the PA might soon become a state, in which case it will not be liable to pay the damages. The court ordered four million shekels frozen, despite objections by Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein. Dan was also injured some 20 years ago in a terrorist attack against a synagogue in France.
The ruling was not fortuitous for the PA, coming concurrently with reports of a possible economic collapse of the PA. Lt.-Col. Yitzchak Gurevitch, of the government\'s Yesha coordinator\'s office, said that the PA\'s mounting debts could lead to its bankruptcy. The PA\'s monthly income of $77 million - over 70% of it from donor countries - is $13 million less than its monthly expenses, Gurevitch said, and this is in addition to previous debts.
The ruling was not fortuitous for the PA, coming concurrently with reports of a possible economic collapse of the PA. Lt.-Col. Yitzchak Gurevitch, of the government\'s Yesha coordinator\'s office, said that the PA\'s mounting debts could lead to its bankruptcy. The PA\'s monthly income of $77 million - over 70% of it from donor countries - is $13 million less than its monthly expenses, Gurevitch said, and this is in addition to previous debts.