Smotrich says he’s considering withholding PA tax funds, ending banking deal due to ICC decision

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he will inform the security cabinet this evening that he is considering not transferring this month’s batch of Palestinian tax revenues that belong to Ramallah following today’s ICC decision to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.

Israel is required under the Oslo Agreements to transfer the tax revenues that it collects on the PA’s behalf. The US has gone as far as to accuse Smotrich of theft when he has refused to do in the past.

Smotrich is also considering not extending the corresponding banking agreement between Israel and the PA, which expires at the end of this month.

“These steps would deal a severe blow to the PA’s economy, which could lead to its collapse,” his office says in a statement.

Smotrich will also demand in tonight’s meeting that the government implement a series of other sanctions against the PA — including the stripping of “VIP” permits allowing senior Palestinian officials to transit through West Bank crossings — which the cabinet authorized in June, his office says.