Palestinians in Uproar as Israel Defends Cutting Their Electricity; But You'll be Surprised Who They're REALLY Mad At

Israel Today Staff : Feb 24, 2015
Staff - Israel Today

It was especially infuriating to many Palestinians, who noted that they pay electric bills to the Palestinian Authority every month, begging the question, "Where's the money?"

(Israel)—The Israel Electric Company (IEC) on Monday decided that enough was enough and began throttling the flow of electricity to the Palestinian Authority, which for years has refused to pay its bills. While the move garnered a lot of media attention, it really was less severe than portrayed, and less punishing than many believe the Palestinian Authority deserves.

What the IEC did was cut power to the "West Bank" cities of Nablus (the Biblical site of Shechem) and Jenin for a period of no more than 45 minutes. The company said it would repeat the short blackout daily until the Palestinian Authority starts paying off its nearly $500 million debt.

Palestinian officials tried to link the situation to Israel's freezing of tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority over its unilateral diplomatic maneuvering at the UN and the International Criminal Court. But the truth is that the electrical bills have been mounting for a very long time, with no indication that the Palestinian Authority ever intended to pay.

That was especially infuriating to many Palestinians, who noted that they pay electric bills to the Palestinian Authority every month, begging the question, "Where's the money?"

"I feel like a sucker," Nablus resident Mahmoud Arafat told Israel's NRG News website. "I pay my electric bills, but still suffered from the blackout."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that he had not ordered the blackout, and that it had been an internal decision taken by the cash-strapped IEC.

Seemingly ignoring the circumstances, and the fact that the blackout lasted a mere 45 minutes, the Obama Administration expressed "concern" over the move.

Many Israeli politicians have called to use the frozen Palestinian Authority tax revenues to pay the outstanding debt. But, again, the Obama Administration has put pressure on Israel not to do so, insisting that without those funds, the Palestinian Authority could collapse.