Director of the Israel Electric Corporation Yiftah Ron Tal said this morning that if the Palestinians don’t pay what they owe the Corporation, electricity will be cut off in homes in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas.
Recently, the Palestinians paid 600 million shekels in electricity bills. However, their debt stands at over a billion shekels.
At the 14th Besheva newspaper Jerusalem Conference, Ron Tal said: “The Palestinian debt to the Electric Corporation is huge, over a billion shekels. It’s true that they have paid 600 million recently and it’s true that we are at advanced stages of negotiations to ensure that there won’t be new debts, but this is still an intolerable and inconceivable situation.”
“An entire population is enjoying the benefits of electricity without paying for it. If we were talking about Israeli citizens, we would have cut off the electricity [...] If negotiations don’t succeed, we will cut off their electricity,” he emphasized.
Ron Tal also said that the Corporation is establishing a fund headed by a retired judge which will be responsible for determining which Israeli citizens who owe money to the Corporation will not have their electricity cut despite debts. “We need to find a new way to settle this matter,” he asserted. “There are a lot [of Israelis] who, unfortunately, cannot pay their electricity bills.”