Palestinians urge EU to force Israel to release taxes

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah met with a representative from the European Union on Thursday to ask for EU pressure in convincing Israel to release $200 million worth of withheld tax revenues, the Hebrew media Ynet website reported.

Hamdallah’s plea came after last month the United Nations also called on Israel to release the monies that were withheld after the PA decided to join the International Criminal Court in December 2014.

A senior UN official told the Security Council that the freeze, imposed on January 3, was in violation of the Oslo peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

“We call on Israel to immediately resume the transfer of tax revenues,” said UN Assistant Secretary-General Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen.

The United States and the European Union have criticized Israel’s retaliatory move in response to the Palestinian application to join the ICC, which could investigate war crimes complaints against Israel.

The 15-member council met to discuss the Middle East after rejecting a vote last December on a resolution for Palestinian statehood that had been strongly opposed by the United States.

The failed Arab-backed resolution set the end of 2017 as the deadline for a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines that would pave the way to Palestinian statehood.

While the United States and Australia voted against but China, France and Russia were among eight countries that backed the resolution, leaving it just one vote short of the nine required for adoption.

The outcome spared the United States from resorting to its veto, a move that could have undermined its standing in the Arab world at a time when Washington is leading a campaign against Islamists in Iraq and Syria.

Five countries seen as having a more pro-Palestinian stance began their term at the Security Council this month — Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela.