Joint (Arab) List MK Ahmed Tibi says Israel rejected the Palestinian Authority’s request for mediation regarding the PA debt to the Israel Electric Company, Israel Radio reports.
According to Tibi, tax money collected by Israel on behalf of the PA “serves to penalize it every time the PA takes a diplomatic step not palatable to the occupier.”
He adds that withholding the funds is an act of “piracy,” and does not stand up to legal scrutiny, and that the PA will prevail if it takes the matter to the International Criminal Court at the Hague.
MK Ahmad Tibi participates in a panel discussion at the Israel Conference on Democracy, in Tel Aviv on February 17, 2015. (photo credit: Amir Levy/Flash90)
Tibi also speaks of PM Netanayhu, who “was once the darling of the international community but today is cornered for his negative behavior and position with the White House.”
The MK was referring to the Palestinian Authority’s refusal on Sunday to accept the withheld tax money Israel transferred, since the government subtracted an amount to cover a portion of the PA’s debts to Israeli service companies.
Israel started freezing the tax money last year, when the Fatah government in Ramallah signed a unity deal with Hamas in Gaza.
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