Sa’ar asks Bank of Israel to take 200-shekel note out of circulation to harm Hamas finances

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar asks Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron to take the 200-shekel note out of circulation to cripple Hamas’s finances.

“It is within our power to deliver a strategic economic blow to the murderous terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, without resorting to foreign partners,” writes Sa’ar in a letter distributed by his office.

According to experts, says Sa’ar, Hamas boasts a stockpile of billions of shekels in cash, with which it pays its members and recoups them as “taxes” on merchants.

A volunteer team of experts estimates that 80% of the Hamas treasury consists of 200 shekels notes, he writes.

Canceling 200-shekel bills, or at least the series that was transferred to Gaza, says Sa’ar, “will dramatically harm Hamas’s economic capacity, will create significant difficulties in paying salaries to its operatives, will harm its ability to recruit additional terrorists to its ranks, its ability to acquire ammunition and logistical supplies, maintain governance functions and buy the loyalty of its supporters.”

Given demonstrations against Hamas in Gaza and the group’s ongoing financial straits, Sa’ar argues, “such a heavy economic blow could make a substantial contribution to achieving the war’s goals — eliminating Hamas as a military and governmental entity and returning the kidnapped to their homes.”