Israel close to sending $100 mln to Abbas-official
Source: Reuters
(Adds U.S. comment, paragraph 13) By Adam Entous JERUSALEM, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Israel hopes to release nearly $100 million in withheld Palestinian tax revenues to President Mahmoud Abbas by Friday, part of a U.S.-led push to bolster the moderate leader, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday. Abbas could use the money to help make long-overdue salary payments to Palestinian public sector workers, hard hit by a Western and an Israeli embargo of the Hamas-led government. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been under U.S. pressure to take steps to strengthen Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas. During his first formal meeting with Abbas on Dec. 23, Olmert promised to hand over the $100 million and to remove roadblocks in the occupied West Bank. Since that meeting, Abbas's allies complained that Israel has been undercutting him by taking its time to deliver on its promises. Abbas, who met U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, asked Washington to intervene. Rice held talks with Olmert on Monday in Jerusalem. "We hope to transfer the full amount by Friday," a senior Israeli government official told Reuters of the $100 million in withheld tax revenues pledged by Olmert. Palestinian officials who have been negotiating the transfer had no immediate comment. Earlier this week, Olmert told reporters that he would personally ensure that roadblocks in the West Bank would be removed as promised. Israel is withholding nearly $500 million in Palestinian tax revenues, money that would normally be used by the Palestinian Authority to pay government workers. The Israeli government decided last February to halt the tax revenue transfers, estimated at $50 million to $60 million per month, after Hamas Islamists beat Abbas's Fatah movement in parliamentary elections a year ago. Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction, has struggled to govern since taking office in March under the weight of U.S.-led sanctions imposed because of its refusal to recognise the Jewish state, renounce violence and abide by interim peace deals. "We (the United States) are certainly encouraging the Israelis to find a way to be able to transfer these funds in a way that will benefit the Palestinian people," said a U.S. State Department official. Palestinian government workers signed an agreement over the weekend to end a strike over unpaid wages, but it was unclear where Abbas would secure the funds to start paying salaries. Rice has promised a bigger American push towards establishing a Palestinian state. She plans to hold a three-way summit meeting with Abbas and Olmert early next month.
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