Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sent a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this morning, in which he informed that he instructed the Ministry of Finance not to transfer tax funds to the Palestinian Authority following its support for the massacre and its appeal to the High Court in The Hague.
In his letter, Smotrich wrote, "According to the Oslo Accords, Israel collects tax funds for the Palestinian Authority and transfers them every month, deducting various payments and services such as electricity, water, and the like. Part of the collected funds is for goods transferred to Gaza."
"After the horrendous massacre committed by Hamas in the communities of the Gaza periphery on the black Saturday," the minister stated, "the Palestinian Authority did not find it appropriate to condemn these barbaric acts, and even senior officials in the Authority expressed support for the heinous massacre. In addition, the Palestinian Authority is conducting activities against Israel, and among other things, the Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority turned to the International Criminal Court with a demand to prosecute the Israeli war criminals."
Therefore, the Minister of Finance writes that "it is inconceivable that in this reality, we will continue to transfer the mentioned funds as if nothing happened. Accordingly, I wish to inform you that I have instructed the Ministry of Finance to halt the transfer of the payments this month. At the same time, I request that you bring this matter to urgent discussion in the Security Cabinet."
