From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Smotrich rejects US request to transfer withheld Palestinian tax revenue to Board of Peace
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has rejected a US request that he allow a portion of the $5 billion in Palestinian tax revenues that Israel is withholding from the Palestinian Authority to be transferred instead to the Board of Peace running Gaza.
The US-led Board of Peace tasked with overseeing the postwar management of the Strip has struggled to secure funding after countries made pledges of $17 billion earlier this year that have overwhelmingly gone unfulfilled.
To help close the gap, a Palestinian official told The Times of Israel that the PA has offered to donate to the Board of Peace, but has conditioned its contribution on Israel releasing its clearance revenues, tax funds which Jerusalem is supposed to collect on Ramallah’s behalf and transfer to the PA each month. Smotrich has refused to do so for over a year — a violation of the Oslo Accords that has risked collapsing the PA entirely as the tax funds make up the majority of its budget.
The PA official said Ramallah is hoping that the US can coax Israel to release a significant portion of the withheld funds that would then be transferred to the Board of Peace, while an identical portion would be transferred to Ramallah.
The US raised the idea with Israel but Smotrich — who has advocated collapsing the PA — rejected it, arguing that it could allow Ramallah to gain a foothold in Gaza, his office told The Times of Israel, confirming a report on the Ynet news site.
The Times of Israel Community.