Israel's law enforcement agencies have decided to order the deduction of over a million shekels from the Palestinian Authority's (PA) tax revenues, Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) reported. The money will cover the medical expenses of PA collaborators who were tortured by the PA's security services, as well as for the compensation they demanded. Last year, an Israeli court for the first time recognized the torture of 50 collaborators and ordered the PA to pay them compensation.The full amount has yet to be determined. However, in the meantime, legal costs have been deducted from the transfers to the PA. Speaking to Arutz Sheva , the collaborators' attorney Barak Kedem said, "A year ago, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the PA illegally jailed and tortured 52 men and women who were suspected of collaborating with Israel. Not long ago, it was decided that the PA should pay the collaborators' legal fees, which total 1 million shekel. As expected, the PA refused. We ended up garnishing, because the PA did not want to pay." "The State transfers 900,000 NIS each month to the PA in tax revenues, and these monies are what we demanded garnished in order to fulfill the court's orders. Thankfully, the State decided to deduct these monies in order to pay the legal fees." Kedem noted that the "million plus NIS" are a "temporary expense" and that the main ruling will require that the PA compensate the collaborators, to the tune of several million shekels. "The court heard testimonies of people who underwent very difficult torture in the PA's basements, and ruled that these things were done illegally, and are a crime which deserves compensation. Now the court has to decide how much compensation each person will receive. One person's apartment was stolen, one person is now 100% mentally ill, another is neurologically ill, and we need to do the math." Kedem also noted that the next step is to pay the collaborators a total of 13 million NIS in compensation for being jailed illegally. "This sum is in the process of being garnished, and I hope that the State will decide to garnish it from the taxes," he said. "The total sum, which has not yet been determined, amounts to hundreds of millions of shekels." Attorney Nati Rom from the Rom ,Arbus , Kedem ,Tzur Law office, who represents the collaborators, said in response: "We congratulate the Ministry of Finance, which accept to our client's demand and seized the funds of the Palestinian Authority Tax money. We all wish that the Ministry of Finance will continue to do so in the future, and will enable the collaborators with Israel to receive the funds legally belong to them.'
