ISRAEL - Cash Surplus in Judea and Samaria

Picture this: A gas station customer pulls out a wad of bills to pay for a fill-up. The cashier refuses the money, explaining that the station’s bank has stopped accepting notes and coins as deposits because it already is drowning in cash.

In most places, cash is king. But in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, having too much is gumming up the machinery of daily life. The Palestinian banking system has more Israeli shekels than it can manage. As a result, paper money has gotten harder for residents to spend and for businesses to put into their accounts.

With their earnings stuck outside the traditional banking system, business leaders fear the cash glut will eventually prevent West Bank companies from being able to import fuel, food and medical supplies from Israel or elsewhere abroad, Jaber said.

“All sectors will collapse if the cash problem is not resolved,” said Hussni Jaber, executive manager of the Al-Huda Group.

-apnews.com, 20 July 2026

Commentary: From Scriptural perspectives, we like to correct the phrase, “Israeli-occupied West Bank” with Arab Palestinian-occupied Israeli territory.

“Cash is king” is not the case for Arab Palestinians. As the article explains, it turns out to be a great disadvantage for them. What becomes obvious is how much Arab Palestinians depend on Israel’s generosity.

The International Trade Administration (www.trade.gov) has this to say: “The Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) has the power and responsibility to regulate monetary policies in the West Bank and Gaza. In the absence of a national currency, the PMA focuses on fiscal policy and regulating the banking sector, financial institutions, and money changers. It is the sole holder and manager of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA’s) and Palestinian public-sector entities’ foreign currency reserves. With 13 commercial banks comprising 378 branches operating in the West Bank and Gaza, the local banking sector has undergone rapid growth since the establishment of the PA in May 1994.”

Financial experts the world over see cash use declining and electronic transfer payments or the like being preferred.

Where will it all lead? The Bible says, “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:16-17).

While this is still future, the tendency definitely leads in that direction. This in turn will greatly reduce cash-related crimes and will be implemented globally.

(See Has the Tribulation Begun? Item #2406, $16.99.)