- The Media Line - https://themedialine.org -

Palestinians: Israeli Cell Companies Exploiting Us

The Palestinian Authority has outlawed the sale of Israeli mobile phone services, accusing Israeli cellphone companies of operating illegally in the Palestinian Territories and refusing to pay taxes. Mashhour Abu Daka, the Palestinian Minister of Telecom and Information Technology, said Thursday that Israeli cell providers are violating Palestinian law and previous agreements between the two sides by selling their products in Palestinian towns and cities without a required license. He threatened to prosecute any Palestinian who violated the new embargo. "These cell phone companies cover all the Palestinian territories by broadcasting their signal from settlements," the minister told The Media Line. "They don’t respect Palestinian law, they are not paying taxes, they are not licensed. It’s straightforward black marketing." Israeli cell providers have been estimated to make up between 10 and 45 percent of the Palestinian mobile market, but Abu Daka said that the West Bank government had no way of collecting exact figures. "We estimate that they make up 12% of the total market share," he said. "This costs the Palestinian tax payer around $10 million a year in lost tax revenues and an additional $100 million a year in unpaid licence fees."
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