For nearly four years, employees of the Palestinian public sector have been living under the weight of a severe financial crisis. Salaries that were supposed to ensure them a decent life are now being paid in installments: sometimes at 70 percent, other times 60 percent, and most recently dropping to just 35 percent. The official reason: Israel is withholding clearance funds.
What Are Clearance Funds, and Why Does Israel Control Them?
Clearance funds are taxes, customs duties, and value-added tax collected by Israel on goods and services entering the Palestinian territories, in addition to income taxes on Palestinian workers employed inside the Green Line. These funds are collected under the 1994 Paris Economic Protocol, which granted Israel control over the collection of these revenues due to its control over borders and crossings.
Instead of being transferred directly to the Palestinians, these funds first pass through the coffers of the occupation, which decides when and how much to pay — and deducts whatever it wishes.
In recent years, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has exploited this control to impose financial sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, claiming that part of the funds go to the families of martyrs and prisoners. With the escalation of the genocide Gaza, the occupation increased these deductions, choking the Authority’s budget and depriving employees of their full salaries.
The Palestinian Authority: Between Incapacity and Manipulation
But the tragedy does not stop with the occupation. Many believe the Palestinian Authority, despite having other funds and resources, has made no real effort to find solutions. Instead, it has portrayed itself solely as a victim before the international community. Rather than seeking alternatives or easing the burden on employees, this suffering has been used as a bargaining chip to attract aid—leaving citizens feeling like commodities exploited in a political game.
The Employee Caught Between the Hammer and the Anvil
A government employee receiving as little as 35 percent of their salary is still expected to work full hours and fulfill all duties as if earning a full wage. Meanwhile, there are no concessions from banks, utility companies, or universities. Bills, rent, loan installments, and tuition fees are all demanded as though nothing has changed.
The Palestinian public servant has been reduced to living on the bare minimum, struggling to cover basic needs — like a beggar in their own homeland — caught between an occupation that steals their rights and an Authority that trades in their suffering.
The clearance funds crisis is not merely a financial issue, it is a reflection of a deeply oppressive political and economic reality — a usurping occupation that controls livelihoods and uses them as a weapon, and an Authority that is either powerless or complicit, placing its people at the forefront to solicit sympathy from the world. Between the two, the Palestinian citizen remains the biggest loser, paying with their salary, time, and dignity for a conflict in which they have no say.