Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Sunday afternoon appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, requesting an urgent discussion on his proposal to cancel 200 shekel notes or, alternatively, specific series of notes that entered the Gaza Strip.
This follows a letter Sa’ar sent to the Bank of Israel Governor last weekend and his raising of the issue during a Cabinet meeting.
In his letter to Netanyahu, Sa’ar wrote, “There is an urgent need to advance an economic war against Hamas. If the Bank of Israel persists in refusing to cooperate, I will propose exploring its advancement through a government decision and legislation if needed.”
He added, “I request an urgent discussion under your leadership, with the participation of relevant parties: the Defense Minister, Finance Minister, Bank of Israel Governor, National Security Council, Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority, and Israel Tax Authority.”
In his letter to the Bank of Israel Governor, Sa’ar explained that the goal of canceling the notes is to undermine Hamas’s economic power base in Gaza. He noted that Hamas heavily relies on cash circulating in Gaza, estimated at billions of shekels, which the organization uses to pay its operatives and collect “taxes” from merchants. According to a volunteer expert team, about 80% of this amount is held in 200 shekel notes.
“Denying the funding capabilities of terrorist organizations in general, and Hamas in particular, is a vital component of the war effort,” Sa’ar wrote. He stated that canceling specific series of 200 shekel notes transferred to Gaza in recent years could deliver a “strategic economic blow” to Hamas, disrupting its governance and recruitment mechanisms.