TEL AVIV (RIA Novosti) – Israel is halting
tax payments it collects for the Palestinians in response to their successful
bid to raise their UN status, local media reported on Sunday, citing Israeli
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz.
"I have no intention of transferring
the tax payments to the Palestinian Authority this month. I plan to use them to
offset Palestinian debt to the Israel Electric Corporation," Steinitz said
at the beginning of a weekly cabinet meeting.
“We have said from the beginning that the
raising of the status of Palestine at the UN
would produce a reaction from Israel
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that
a total of 460 million shekels (about $120 million) would be withheld from the
Palestinians.
The move comes after the UN General Assembly
recognized on Thursday the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a non-member observer
state.
The Palestinian bid, submitted by President
Mahmoud Abbas, was approved by 138 UN members, while nine voted against and 41
abstained from voting. The bid faced fierce opposition from Israel and the United States
The move amounts to an implicit recognition
of the Palestinian statehood and increases PA’s chances of joining other UN
bodies. It also allows the Palestinian Authority to challenge the continuing
construction of Israeli settlements on the occupied Palestinian land in the
International Criminal Court.
Abbas urged the UN General Assembly before
the historic vote “to issue the birth certificate of Palestine
He also reiterated that the Palestinians
would continue their efforts to achieve a fully-recognized statehood. ---VOA
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