Tel Aviv has decided to deduct some $138 million from the amount of taxes it collected on behalf of Palestine. It comes in retaliation to stipends the Palestinian Authority pays to families of Palestinian prisoners.
The move was announced by the Security Cabinet of Israel on Sunday, as it decided to put into effect a law, passed by the country’s parliament last July.
Israel says it will cut around $138 million of the tax handovers to stop payments to families of jailed Palestinianshttps://t.co/Nui8FjiHDI pic.twitter.com/zkefsSKhpe
— TRT World (@trtworld) February 18, 2019
The legislation allows Israel to freeze and deduct funds from Palestinian tax revenues, equal to stipends the Palestinian authorities pay to families of those jailed by Tel Aviv and former prisoners.
Despite the Israeli move, the Palestinian authorities seem to be adamant to continue the payments, condemning Tel Aviv’s decision as “piracy” and “theft.”
"This a robbery of the Palestinian people.”
Palestinian Authority reacts as Israeli government decides to withhold $138 million in tax transfers over its payments to prisoners jailed by Israel.https://t.co/DdvyVauVoPhttps://t.co/LDrM8EfYLN
— Ben White (@benabyad) February 17, 2019
Wasel Abu Youssef, an official with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told Reuters:
“It is an attempt to pressure us and blackmail us. Even if left with just one dollar, we will pay it to the families of the martyrs, of the prisoners and of the wounded.”
(RT, PC, Social Media)
