JNS reports that the PA has halted patient referrals to Israeli hospitals.
Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90
The Palestinian Authority will no longer allow patients to be referred to Israeli hospitals, according to reports on Monday.
In an interview with The Times of Israel, P.A. Health Ministry spokesman Osama al-Najjar said that Israeli hospitals have been overcharging for services and “taking funds for medical bills without our permission.”
An estimated 50,000 Palestinian residents are sent to Israeli hospitals a year, primarily for specific treatments that Palestinian hospitals do not provide.
Now, they will only have access to P.A. hospitals, including six that operate in eastern Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan, Egypt and other countries.
The Finance Ministry deducts the cost of medical bills from taxes collected by Israel for the P.A., according to al-Najjar, who said the ministry was unwilling to discuss solutions.
The Finance Ministry responded that “in accordance with the Paris Protocol and Israeli law, the Finance Ministry deducts, from [tax] funds that are collected for the Palestinian Authority, payments that it or parties under its control owe. Charges, including those for Palestinians referred by the P.A. for treatment in hospitals in Israel, are carried out in a fully transparent manner and in accordance with clear procedures.”
You may have already known that palestinians have been sent to Israeli hospitals for treatment – either from here or other sites – a humanitarian gesture that has sometimes been exploited. But now you have a number: 50,000 per year.
That’s one heck of a genocide fail if you ask me.
And the Israeli hospitals provide top-notch treatment, no doubt superior to the palestinian ones. The report itself mentions that the palestinian patients had been sent to our hospitals “primarily for specific treatments that Palestinian hospitals do not provide.” So it would be fair to say that the PA’s decision is putting their own people at risk. And why? Because they want more money out of us.
Which goes to show you their priorities and how much they really care about their own people.
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
