Israel Sanctions, Severs Ties with Palestinian Authority
“Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.” (Proverbs 11:21)
(Photo: Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
Israel has officially suspended its formal contact with the Palestinian Authority as part of punitive measures in response to the PA president’s move to join 15 international bodies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the move which now restricts governmental officials to meet with their Palestinian counterparts. However, due to security concerns, the ban does not extend to the Defense Ministry. A senior Israeli official told Ha’aretz that low level cooperation in the field will continue.
An anonymous Israeli official told AFP, “In response to the Palestinian violation of their commitments under peace talks…Israel government ministers have been told to refrain from meeting their Palestinian counterparts.”
Netanyahu’s decision comes at a time where U.S. brokered peace negotiations have come to a complete standstill. Last month, Israel refused to release Palestinian terrorist prisoners as part of a previous deal that brought the PA back to the negotiating table.
Israel blocked the release due to the escalating demands of the PA, which included the release of 1,000 additional prisoners, and the lack of PA commitment to continue peace negotiations past their April 29 deadline.
Upon submission of the applications to join international bodies, Israel announced it would begin instituting low-level sanctions against the PA. Severing contact between ministries is part of a series of moves by Israel, including canceling telecommunication permits for a Palestinian company and withholding tax revenues.
A senior Israel official told the Times of Israel, “We’re thinking of deducting from the PA’s budget the money they spend on terrorists and their families. This step would be less dramatic than cutting entirely our monthly tax payments to the PA, but it would be a step that would be in place.”
According to Israel, the PA Ministry of Prisoner Affairs spent $75.5 million in 2012 that went towards terrorists serving in Israeli prison and their families. Israel considers these payments a form of funding terrorism.
According to the PA, Israel’s sanctions could lead to the total collapse of the PA. Speaking on Israel Radio, senior Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad said that the PA would hold Israel and the US responsible should the PA be toppled.
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry placed most of the blame for failed peace talks on Israel. Testifying before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Kerry said, “The prisoners were not released by Israel on the day they were supposed to be released and then another day passed and another day, and then 700 [new housing] units were approved in Jerusalem and then poof – that was sort of the moment.”
Naftali Bennett (Photo: Ministry of Economy/Wiki Commons)
Israel’s Economy Minister Naftali Bennett responded to Kerry’s comments by saying, “In light of all this, it is clear the current process has run its course and that we are entering a new era.” He urged Netanyahu to walk away from the failed negotiations and annex portions of the West Bank.
In a letter to the prime minister, Bennett urged Netanyahu “to have a session as soon as possible on an alternative plan (Plan B0 to begin the process of applying Israeli sovereignty on areas in Judea and Samaria that are under Israeli control.”
Bennett listed specific blocs of territory he wants annexed, including Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim, and the Ofra and Beit El settlements. These areas are home to more than 400,000 Israelis and only tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Bennett pointedly addressed Kerry’s criticism of Israeli construction in East Jerusalem. “Israel will never apologize for building in Jerusalem,” Bennett wrote in a Facebook statement. “For many years people have tried to prevent us from living in the eternal capital of the Jewish people. This won’t happen. Building in Jerusalem is not a ‘puff’, building in Jerusalem is Zionism.”
