Several months of secret meetings between Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad resulted in an agreement reached on Tuesday evening that Steinitz hailed as “an important step in strengthening the economic ties between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”
A Finance Ministry press release said the agreement will help foster trade between Israel and the PA, as well as to help strengthen the Palestinian tax system and strengthen its financial base. Additionally, the agreement will enable both sides to more effectively fight smuggling and tax evasion.
The new arrangements will go into effect on January 1, 2013, and will be monitored by a joint team of Israeli and Palestinian experts, according to the press release.
“The new arrangements are part of our overall stated policy to support the Palestinian society and to strengthen their economy,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He added that the agreement will “hopefully further our relations with the Palestinians in other areas as well.”
Fayyad said that the agreements “will help to strengthen the economic base of the Palestinian Authority.. .also improve the economic relations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.”
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
