In a newspaper interview Ha’aretz, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh returns to the financial retaliation measures imposed by the Jewish State on the Palestinian Authority. Israel accuses the Palestinian leaders of having led a veritable diplomatic offensive against it at the United Nations on the question of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories.
With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Sami Boukhelifa
“ Israeli financial sanctions will cause the collapse of the Palestinian Authority “, warns Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh in the columns of the Israeli daily. Ha’aretz.
The fault of the Palestinians? Having raised the issue of Israeli colonization at the UN. The Palestinians have also demanded that the International Court of Justice rule on the legality of the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Adopted two days after the inauguration of the new Israeli government, the non-binding resolution also calls on Israel to end Jewish settlement in the West Bank and urges the ICJ to determine “ the legal consequences of Israel’s continued violation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination “.
Enough to anger the Israeli government, which responded firmly through a series of sanctions. The most constraining concerns the finances of the Palestinian Authority. Israel strikes where it hurts, in the pocketbook. The Jewish state, as the occupying power, collects taxes on goods and merchandise entering the Palestinian territories, amounting to some $250 million per month. Israel then donates two-thirds of these funds to the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli government is now imposing a financial penalty of nearly $40 million on the Palestinians.
” Another nail in the coffin of the Palestinian Authority »
Measures ” are intended to make it clear that Israel will pay the price for any attempt to harm (it) on the international scene according to a statement from Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
Israel” has just driven a new nail in the coffin of the Palestinian Authority “, regrets Mohamed Shtayyeh. The Palestinian Prime Minister explains: We live under brutal occupation and Israel wants to ban us from all forms of struggle, even the most peaceful. “. He recalls that the Palestinians are largely dependent on international aid.