Report: Smotrich holding NIS 170 million in PA tax revenue over UN statehood bid, possible ICC arrest warrants
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has reportedly been holding NIS 170 million shekels ($46 million) in tax revenue that Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority for nine days.
Channel 12 quotes sources close to Smotrich as saying that the move comes in protest of PA efforts “fighting against the State of Israel,” an apparent reference to reports that Ramallah has been pushing for the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli officials for alleged breaches of international law in Gaza during the ongoing war against Hamas.
“Those who act against our soldiers and commanders in The Hague should not receive any assistance,” the sources are quoted as saying.
Smotrich also warned late last month that he would cut off the transfer of funds to the Palestinian administrative body if it continues with its unilateral efforts for international recognition of a state.
The United Nations General Assembly is set to vote today on a largely symbolic resolution to back a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join the international body.
Channel 12 quotes a Palestinian source as saying that “Israel is once again strengthening Hamas and weakening the Palestinian Authority.”
Israel collects hundreds of millions of shekels in Palestinian tax revenue, which Smotrich held up earlier in the war over concerns that the portion of the funds that Ramallah uses to pay for services and employees in Gaza — roughly NIS 260 million ($73 million) monthly — could wind up in the hands of Hamas. An agreement was eventually reached in February to transfer the payments via Norway to ensure no money is diverted.