Amos Gilad to the Shalit family: Funds transferred to the Gaza Strip are Palestinian money

Senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad has responded in recent days to comments by the parents of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who harshly criticized the transfer of millions of shekels to the Palestinian Authority. The Shalit family, whose son was abducted from Israel in June 2006 and is being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said the funds could be used to finance terror attacks.

Gilad said that the NIS 50 million transfer comprises Palestinian funds relayed from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip banking system. He rejected the Shalits' claim that the funds come from tax revenues.

The Shalit letter to outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni claimed that not only is Israel not preventing the transfer of goods to the Strip's territory and not applying pressure to advance the release of their son, it is transferring money to the Strip in a way that can be used to finance terror attacks.

Gilad noted that the sums relayed to the Palestinian Authority were significantly lower than what Israel had planned to transfer. He said that the money was transferred after a thorough examination of the Gaza banking system's financial state and was aimed at preventing its collapse.

Gilad added that Shalit's rescue is a constant priority for the defense minister and the defense establishment. He said that the transfer of goods or bank funds are at the discretion of the defense minister and based on his consultations with security officials and evaluations of the humanitarian state in Gaza.

	Abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. (Archives)