Israel threatens tougher measures against PA
January 4, 2015
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to take tougher further measures against the Palestinians over their bid to join the International Criminal Court based in The Hague.
The Palestinians UN envoy formally submitted documents at United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday.
"The Palestinian Authority has chosen to take a path of confrontation with Israel and we will not sit idly by," Netanyahu said on Sunday.
A close associate of the premier, Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz even spoke of the possibility of taking steps towards the "gradual dissolution" of the PA.
"We should not aid the existence of this authority," he said, without giving details about how such a goal might be achieved.
Funds transfer frozen
Israel announced on Saturday that it would freeze a planned monthly payment of 500 million shekels ($127 million, 106 million euros) in tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority over its bid to join the ICC.
The funds are from taxes that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians and are crucial for the activities of the PA, including its paying of salaries to civil servants.
The revenue transfer, which makes up around two thirds of the PA's annual budget, is required under past interim peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians.
This is not the first time that Israel has employed such a tactic, which, chief Palestinian negotiator described on Saturday as a "war crime."
IDF personnel "won't be dragged to ICC"
Also at Sunday's cabinet meeting, Netanyahu pledged to ensure that no Israeli soldiers would be put on trial.
"We will not let Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers and officers be dragged to the International Criminal Court in The Hague," the prime minister said.
"IDF soldiers will continue to defend Israel with determination and strength - and as they defend us, we will defend them, with the same determination and the same strength," he added.
It's not clear what the odds are of the Palestinians' being successful in their bid to join the ICC.
A statement from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman posted on his website said the documents submitted on Friday "are being reviewed with a view to determining the appropriate next steps."
This process is expected to take around two months to complete.
pfd/ipj (AP, APF, dpa)