Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon and “Coordinator for Government Activity in the Territories” (COGAT) head Yoav Mordechai met after the end of the Shavuot holiday with senior PA officials Rami Hamdallah and Hassin A-Sheikh in Ramallah.
At the meeting, the Israelis presented civilian and economic benefits that Israel plans to give to the PA, in light of US President Trump’s recent visit to the region and cabinet decisions on the matter.
The meeting took place with the knowledge of PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, as a continuation of working meetings being held between Finance Minister Kahlon and PA officials since Kahlon started serving as Finance Minister.
During the meeting, which took place with the accompaniment of professional staff from the Finance Ministry and COGAT, economic and civilian gestures approved by the cabinet were presented.
These include, among other things, an extension of working hours of the Allenby Crossing between Israel and Jordan to 24 hours a day for the next two months and on a permanent basis starting in 2018, an extension of the working hours of checkpoints in Judea and Samaria and their upgrade, the establishment of an industrial zone near the Tarkumiya Crossing near Hevron, and the coordination of enforcement policy in specific areas in Area C near Areas A and B.
Likewise, the working groups agreed on economic and financial issues for strengthening and encouraging Israeli-Palestinian economic cooperation.