Top Biden aide blasts Israel for withholding Palestinian tax revenues
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan slams Israel for withholding tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced earlier today that he would cease making the transfers — which he has already not been making in full — in response to the decisions by Spain, Ireland, and Norway to recognize a Palestinian state.
“I think it’s wrong. I think it’s wrong on a strategic basis because withholding funds destabilizes the West Bank, it undermines the search for security and prosperity for the Palestinian people, which is in Israel’s interests,” Sullivan says during a press conference.
“I think it’s wrong to withhold funds that provide basic goods and services to the Palestinian people. From our perspective, those funds should continue to go — with all of the necessary safeguards — but they should continue to flow,” Sullivan says.
The tax revenues make up a majority of Ramallah’s budget, and Israel’s withholding of them risks collapsing the PA, Palestinian officials warned Sullivan during a meeting earlier this week, a US official told The Times of Israel.