Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given instructions to continue withholding tax revenues which Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, Israeli media reported on Monday.Daily newspaper Israel Hayom stated that Netanyahu gave orders to withhold $100 million the PA was supposed to receive as tax revenues for January.
Israel was already withholding another $100 million of PA tax revenue for December.
The Israeli government decided to take this step as a response to a decision by Palestinian officials to sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Palestinian move was a step toward suing Israeli troops and officials for war crimes at the ICC.
Israel Hayom reported that Israel would continue to withhold PA tax money until the ‘completion’ of Israel’s punitive procedures against Palestine’s ICC move.
The PA government uses the tax revenues to pay its employees. On Sunday, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah urged government employees to be patient and promised to issue a partial payment of salaries ‘soon.’
