Saudi Arabia transfers $90 million to PA amid continued Israeli withholding of funds

Saudi Arabia has transferred a $90 million grant to the Palestinian Authority aimed at allowing the cash-strapped Ramallah to continue operating.

Formal notice of the grant was presented to PA Finance Minister Estephan Salameh by Saudi Ambassador to the Palestinians Prince Mansour bin Khalid on Monday.

The Saudi envoy said in a statement that the grant further demonstrates Riyadh’s commitment to supporting the PA and to helping it meet its financial obligations.

He said that the tranche of a grant is part of the Saudi leadership’s commitment to support the Palestinian government and help it meet its financial obligations.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has refused to sign off on monthly transfers since May as retribution for the decisions by Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state. Even before that, though, Israel had been withholding millions of dollars each month to offset what it said were the payments that the PA makes to the families of security prisoners and slain attackers. The total amount of funds withheld amounts to several billion dollars, the PA claims.

The clearance revenues that Israel is required to collect and transfer to Ramallah each month make up a majority of the PA’s budget, and the lack of these funds has meant public employees have gone months without receiving a full paycheck or sometimes any salary at all.

Against this backdrop, Saudi Arabia, Norway France and Spain have launched an international fundraising campaign aimed at preventing the PA’s collapse.

While the Biden administration had urged Israel to release the Palestinian funds, the Trump administration has yet to publicly make such a call.

PLO Executive Committee Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh in a statement thanked Saudi Arabia for its “steadfast position in support of the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights in light of the difficult economic and financial conditions that they face.”