The Jerusalem Post reports that the retrieval of almost one million shekels worth of jewelry belonging to an Israeli jeweler necessitated the passing of new Palestinian legislation and lengthy negotiations. The jewelry was finally returned to the Israeli jeweler after its confiscation late last year by the Palestinian Authority.



Last November, the Israeli jeweler entered the Bethlehem area carrying over 100 kilograms of gold and silver worth NIS 870,000. The Palestinian police detained him, accusing him of collaborating with Palestinian merchants and evasion of customs levies.



The jewelry was held at the official customs office in Bethlehem for close to half a year. It was finally returned to the jeweler at the offices of Lt.-Col. Iyad Sihan, head of the IDF's District Coordination Liaison Office near Bethlehem.



Sihan stated: "It took a lot of negotiations and discussions but we were finally able to recover the jewelry. The Palestinians confiscated it since they claimed that the jeweler did not have licenses and had not paid customs. We explained to them that our customs will deal with him and that they need to give the jewelry back."



Palestinian legislation at the time did not allow the PA to return merchandise confiscated by customs to Israel. Ultimately, Sihan and the head of the Civil Administration's Economic Branch Lt.-Col. Salame Daxa convinced the PA Minister of Economy and Telecommunications Kamal Hassouni to issue a special order allowing the return of the jewelry.