Abu Bluff turns down tax money as Israel sets off unpaid bills
'
Moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen has turned down tax revenues that were to be turned over by Israel because the Israeli government
set off from the money amounts owed by the 'Palestinian Authority' for electricity and other utilities and for hospitalization.
Israel withheld the collected tax revenues beginning in January after
P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas signed requests in late December to join
the International Criminal Court and other international conventions as a
result of the failure of the United Nations Security Council to pass a
Palestinian statehood proposal.
The Palestinians are believed to owe millions of dollars to Israel
for utilities provided by Israel as well as for visits to Israeli
hospitals, Reuters reported.
Abbas rejected the returned funds saying Israel had deducted one-third of the money owed to them.
“We are returning the money. Either they give it to us in full or we
go to arbitration or to the (International Criminal) Court. We will not
accept anything else,” he said Sunday.
The P.A. said last week its public employees would receive 60 percent
of their salaries for the month of March, the Wafa Palestinian news and
information agency reported.
Israel has
never signed the Rome Protocol and has never submitted to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. As a sovereign nation, it cannot be hauled into court without its consent. Good luck suing us there.
Labels: Abu Mazen, International Criminal Court, Israel Electric Corporation, Palestinian tax transfers, prisoner salaries
'Palestinians': We never agreed to drop the ICC prosecution
The 'Palestinians' are denying a story I ran earlier today that claimed that they had agreed to drop their attempt to have Israel prosecuted for '
war crimes' in the International Criminal Court in exchange for having their
tax moneys released.
A senior Palestinian official told Haaretz that the report, which
first appeared in The Jerusalem Post, was entirely false and merely spin
put out by the Prime Minister's Office.
"We continue to seek membership of the
International Criminal Court and we expect the ICC to open an
investigation into Israeli settlements, as well as the recent war in
Gaza," the official said.
"The reports in the Israeli newspapers are nothing
more than spin from Netanyahu's bureau; there was no such agreement. The
money that Netanyahu transferred is Palestinian money and he isn't
doing us any favors."
As far as the Palestinian Authority is concerned,
the official added, Ramallah is more determined than ever to forge ahead
with war crimes charges in The Hague.
"This Wednesday," he said, "Palestine will become a
member of the ICC and the Palestinian Foreign Minister, Dr. Riyad
al-Maliki, will represent the Palestinians in The Hague." He added that
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said as much during the Arab League summit in Egypt over the weekend.
Who wants to bet that they did agree to drop it and changed their tune once the money was released?
Labels: International Criminal Court, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian tax transfers, war crimes
Success? 'Palestinian Authority' to drop ICC in exchange for tax moneys
The Jerusalem Post is reporting that the 'Palestinian Authority' has agreed to drop its efforts to haul Israel before the International Criminal Court
in exchange for tax moneys.
The Palestinian Authority will formally join the International Criminal
Court on April 1, but – following Israel’s decision on Friday to
release frozen tax revenues – is not expected at this time to take
steps against Israel in the ICC regarding settlement construction.
In
addition, The Jerusalem Post has learned that while the ICC prosecutor
has – at the PA’s request – opened a preliminary examination on
alleged Israeli war crimes during Operation Protective Edge over the
summer, the PA is not expected at this time to take additional legal
steps in the ICC regarding the Gaza operation.
As a result of
Israel’s decision to free up the funds, the PA also does not intend now
to stop its security cooperation with Israel, the Post also learned.
It
was the PA’s steps to join the ICC at the end of December that led
Israel to freeze the monthly tax transfers in the first place.
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday that, at the
recommendation of the security establishment, the money that has accrued
since then, some $500 million, will be freed up, though the PA’s
electric, water and hospital bills to Israel will be subtracted from
those funds.
...
One government official said that no decision has yet been made
regarding whether March’s revenues will be transferred, an indication
that this will depend on whether the PA does indeed not pursue other
moves at this time at the ICC, and whether it maintains its security
cooperation with Israel.
With the security establishment
recommending for weeks the transfer of the frozen funds in order to
reduce tension in the West Bank, it was expected for some time that
this move would take place relatively soon after the March 17 election.
So if you squeeze them hard enough, they eventually cry 'uncle.' There's a lesson here for the future.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, International Criminal Court, Palestinian tax transfers
'Palestinians' to file charges with ICC charging Israel with murdering Arafat
Someone please tell me that the International Criminal Court won't be stupid enough to hear this one:
I would bet that the kangaroo court will take those charges very seriously. If you're not aware of the real cause of Arafat's death, go
here.
Earlier on Sunday, the 'Palestinians' offered to drop at least one of their ICC petitions if Israel stops building '
settlements.' And they also threatened to drop 'security cooperation' unless Israel frees up tax money for them.
The official told The Times of Israel that
land seizures in occupied territory constituted a clear violation of
international law. Still, he noted that the appeal to the ICC would be
withdrawn if Israel were to freeze settlement construction, and added
that the Palestinian Authority had conveyed to Israel an official
message to that effect, through Jordan and Egypt.
The official, a confidant of PA President
Mahmoud Abbas, also threatened that security coordination with Israel
would be curtailed if Jerusalem failed to transfer Palestinian tax money
it has been withholding as a punitive measure over the PA’s ICC bid.
“In the first stage [the cessation of security coordination] will entail
a stop to arrests made by us,” he said. “We will only arrest those we
decide to arrest.”
Under current security arrangements,
Palestinian security forces also arrests terror suspects based on
intelligence received from Israel.
The official revealed that the PA had
established a special judicial committee to examine the issue of turning
to The Hague ahead of the date when Palestine will formally join the
institution – April 1, 2015.
The 'Palestinians' are willing to do anything to ensure that there will be no consequences for their refusal to make any progress on 'peace.' They are playing a waiting game in the hope that one day they will be stronger than Israel. What could go wrong?
Labels: International Criminal Court, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian tax transfers, settlement freeze, Yasser Arafat
State Department, Rivlin slam Netanyahu for freezing 'Palestinian' funds
State Department spokeswoman Psaki and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin have slammed the Netanyahu government for
freezing funds transfers to the 'Palestinian Authority' in retaliation for the 'Palestinians' joining the International Criminal Court.
"This step is one that raises tensions as others do," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, referring to the freeze on revenue transfers to the Palestinian Authority.
...
The PA regularly fails to stand by its agreements, and owes Israel staggering sums, including over 1.4 billion shekels (over $360 million) in unpaid electric bills.
The PA has responded with intransigence, with onetime Palestinian Arab negotiator Saeb Erekat claiming to AFP Saturday that the move itself constitutes a "war crime."
I can't think of any reason why that would be a war crime. Here's Rivlin.
At a closed meeting of more than 30 Israeli ambassadors to Europe, held at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, Rivlin criticized both the PA's unilateral moves and Netanyahu's response, calling it damaging to Israel.
Two envoys who attended the meeting told Haaretz that
"President Rivlin said the Palestinian Authority's application to the
International Criminal Court in The Hague is an attempt by [PA Chairman
Mahmoud] Abbas to evade direct negotiations with Israel and force it
into an agreement on its [the PA's] terms, without any Palestinian
concessions."
Rivlin further criticized the actions of the Palestinians, calling
them a violation of the Oslo Accords, and arguing that the Israeli
government should respond - albeit with careful considerations to aid
Israel's interests, not harm them.
To that end, he noted, "freezing the transfer of Palestinian tax money is not beneficial to us and not beneficial to them."
"The Palestinians sustain themselves with these funds which also keep
the Palestinian Authority functioning. It is in Israel's interest that
the PA will function," Rivlin added.
"I was a lawyer until the age of 48, but I would never file a claim for compensation that would end up hurting me," the two ambassadors quoted Rivlin as saying.
I'd like to hear whether Rivlin has any other suggested responses. If he doesn't, he should sit and be quiet.
Labels: International Criminal Court, Jen Psaki, Palestinian tax transfers, Ruby Rivlin, State Department obsession with Israel
How long will it last?
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.
In retaliation for the 'Palestinians' joining the International Criminal Court, Israel has
suspended the transfer of $127 million in tax money to the 'Palestinian Authority.' How long will it last? I'm betting about a week.
Israel froze the transfer of about half a billion shekels (127
million USD) to the Palestinian Authority (PA), a political source told Arutz Sheva Saturday night, in retaliation for the PA's official request to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He said the decision was made Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's
orders and constitutes the Israeli response to the PA's unilateral
moves.
"The funds for the month of December were to be transferred Friday,
but the government decided to freeze [the transfer] as part of the
response to the Palestinian move," the official said.
That number is about a third of what the 'Palestinians' owe the Israel Electric Corporation. Of course, that debt is being subsidized by the Israeli rate payer through higher electric rates.
Labels: International Criminal Court, Israel Electric Corporation, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian tax transfers
It starts (it's about time): 'Palestinian Authority' travel privileges revoked, funds transfers may be stopped
The 'Palestinian' daily al-Hayat is reporting that Israel has revoked the travel privileges of 'Palestinian Authority officials' and has
barred members of the 'unity government' from traveling between the 'West Bank' and Gaza. It's about time.
Senior Palestinian Arab officials told the daily that Israel has
decided to cancel the VIP cards allowing entry into Israel for all PA
officials except PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, as backlash for Monday's
official declaration of the Hamas-Fatah "unity" government. The decision prevents top-ranking Palestinian Arab officials from moving back and forth between Gaza and Ramallah.
"Israel is also reviewing stopping tax revenues from being
transferred to senior [PA] officials," the official said. The amount is
close to 100 million dollars per month, the official said - about 1/3 of
the revenues paid to the PA total.
They should have revoked Abu Bluff's VIP card too. As to the money, the Obama-Kerry administration will make up for that.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Gaza, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Judea and Samaria, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian tax transfers, US foreign aid
'Palestinians' accuse Netanyahu of preveting a 'constructive solution' to the 'crisis'
Responding to Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to cut off contacts with the 'Palestinian Authority,' a 'Palestinian' spokesman has accused the Prime Minister of preventing a '
constructive solution' to the current 'crisis' in the 'peace talks.'
"This decision undermines all international efforts ... to revive the
negotiations, to proceed with a constructive solution to the challenges
facing the peace process," said PA spokesman Ehab Bseiso.
Israeli and Palestinian officials cooperate on civilian issues such as
the environment, water and energy, but Bseiso said this usually does not
entail face-to-face meetings.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority said Israeli-Palestinian
ministerial meetings were rare but voiced concern that the step could be
followed by economic sanctions.
Got to keep the money flowing into
Hamas' coffers in Gaza and into the
terrorists' bank accounts, don't we?
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Hamas, martyrs salaries, Middle East peace process, Palestinian tax transfers, prisoner salaries
Netanyahu resumes terrorist funding transfers to 'Palestinians'
Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided to
resume the transfer of tax moneys to the 'Palestinian Authority.' Some of the tax moneys are used to pay salaries to terrorists held in Israeli jails.
Netanyahu withheld the transfer of tax revenues collected for the PA in the aftermath of the Palestinian statehood upgrade at the UN in November.
Since, Israel has evaluated the transfer of the tax revenues to the PA on a month-by-month basis. Monday's directive appeared to normalize the tax transfers, cancelling the monthly reviews.
The
aid-dependent Palestinian Authority has been in a financial crisis
fueled by a drop in assistance from Western and wealthy Gulf backers,
renewed tensions with Israel and a need to meet an expanding public
sector payroll.
The International Monetary Fund warned earlier
this month that the Palestinian Authority's fiscal situation was
"increasingly precarious."
The IMF called for urgent action to help it close a gaping budget deficit and to stabilize the economy.
The United States confirmed over the weekend that it was releasing nearly $500 million in aid which had been frozen to the PA.
However, a PA official consequently warned that the financial crisis in the West Bank was not over despite the US aid.
"Only
$200 million of the $480 million from the United States will go to the
Treasury, and the rest will be go to USAID-funded projects," the
Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency quoted PA Labor Minister Ahmad
Majdalani as saying on Saturday.
He added that of the $1.3
billion in aid pledged to the PA from various donor countries in 2012,
only some $800 million had actually been transferred.
The IMF
urged the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to draw up contingency
plans that include spending cuts. It also said the Authority should look
at ways to boost growth, which is forecast at roughly 4.0 percent
between 2013 to 2016.
The IMF said unemployment had increased to
almost a quarter of the labor force by the end of 2012, with
unemployment among the youth particularly high.
In the past few
months, the Authority has failed to pay full salaries to its 160,000
employees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territory controlled by the
rival Hamas Islamist movement.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, martyrs salaries, Palestinian donors' conference, Palestinian tax transfers, prisoner salaries
Finance Minister says he won't transfer tax funds to 'Palestinians'
Speaking before Sunday's cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz announced that
he will not transfer tax moneys that Israel collects for them to the 'Palestinians.'
Finance Minister
Yuval Steinitz said he will not transfer to the Palestinian Authority
taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinians, speaking at the cabinet
meeting on Sunday morning. The decision comes in response to the
Palestinian bid to upgrade its statehood status at the United Nations
last week.
Steinitz said he would "use the funds to offset the PA's electricity debts," Channel 10 reported.
The
finance minister decried the Palestinian efforts to create a state
without addressing security concerns, disarmament or recognizing Israel,
adding, "We said this wouldn't pass quietly."
Here's betting that decision is changed long before the Electric Company collects anywhere near what it is owed.
Labels: Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Palestinian tax transfers, Yuval Steinitz
Confirmed: Merkel blackmailed Netanyahu
An Israeli official has confirmed a
report in a German newspaper that German Chancellor Angela Merkel
threatened to cancel an Israeli order for a Dolphin class submarine unless Israel turned over tax money to the 'Palestinian Authority.'
"The [submarine] was the icing on the cake Israel received for agreeing to the European request [to transfer the funds]," the official said.
On Sunday, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel threatened Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with the halting of a German plan to deliver a submarine to Israel if the latter refused to resume the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority.
According to the report, Israel yielded to pressure from Berlin and unfroze the funds. Immediately after, a German government official announced her country would build and pay up to one-third of the cost of a sixth Dolphin-class submarine to be delivered to the Israeli navy.
...
Welt am Sonntag reported that German deputies were confidentially informed by the Merkel administration that delivery of the sixth Dolphin was put on hold because of Netanyahu’s settlement policies.
According to the German paper, the Merkel administration “informed the heads of parties (Bundestag) and leading foreign politicians that Israel made concessions.”
The paper cited unnamed deputies from the governing coalition who said that there was never a serious attempt to use the Dolphin as leverage over Israel.
Welt am Sonntag wrote that a second theory is also “plausible” in terms of the delivery of the Dolphin to Israel.
The paper cited Iran’s “new aggression” last week, which culminated in the storming of Britain’s Embassy on Tuesday by the Basij militia controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
When the
euro collapses, will anyone care what the Germans think any more? They might. Germany may be the only country left standing in Europe.
Labels: Angela Merkel, Binyamin Netanyahu, Dolphin class submarines, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Palestinian tax transfers, Unilateral declaration of independence (UDI)
Germany blackmailed Netanyahu
I used to have a client who had a fair amount of business in Germany who was constantly referring to the Germans as Nazis - even to their faces. It used to grate on me - not because I had sympathy for the Nazis God forbid - but because the type of behavior the Nazis espoused seemed so far in the past and so unrelated to the genteel businessmen (all men) sitting across the table from us.
Last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu caved in and
resumed 'tax transfers' to the 'Palestinian Authority.' The transfers had been suspended in response to the PA's negotiations with Hamas and its unilateralism at the United Nations. It seemed like yet another flip flop by a Prime Minister who talks big but folds like a piece of paper. But it wasn't.
Netanyahu was blackmailed.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel threatened Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with the halting of a German plan to deliver a submarine to Israel if the latter refused to resume the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported on Sunday.
According to the report, Jerusalem yielded to pressure from Berlin and unfroze the funds. Shortly afterward, a German government official announced her country would build and pay up to one-third of the cost of a sixth Dolphin-class submarine to be delivered to the Israeli navy.
The agreement in principle to provide the Dolphin-class submarine, which foreign reports say enhances Israel’s second strike capability since it can carry nuclear warheads, comes a month after reports that Germany was reconsidering the deal because of anger at the announcement of plans to build some 1,100 housing units in the capital’s Gilo neighborhood, over the Green Line.
The German official said she did not know whether those reports were accurate. She said Germany will pay up to 135 million euros toward the submarine, which will cost between 372m. and 520m. euros.
Talks on the deal for the sub stalled last year after the Germans declined to underwrite it, as they had done with previous submarine purchases.
What's unmentioned here is that the submarine's construction will provide a huge boost to Germany's shipbuilding industry, which has been in serious financial straits.
Nazis.
Labels: Angela Merkel, Binyamin Netanyahu, Dolphin class submarines, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Palestinian tax transfers, Unilateral declaration of independence (UDI)
Netanyahu caves again, will transfer tax money to 'Palestinians'
He had Abu Mazen by his junk, but Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided to let him go again. The government has decided to
'resume' (without letting even a paycheck go by) tax transfers to the 'Palestinians.' An official close to the Prime Minister's Office said that the Palestinians have slowed down their unilateral actions, which was a major part of the new consideration.
They have? So what was that meeting between Abu Mazen and Khaled Meshaal in Cairo last week? Are we going to transfer tax moneys to Hamas?
Speaking to the committee, Netanyahu warned that an "Islamic wave" is washing over the Arab world. "This is not good for us."
Following decades of military rule in the Arab world, "We have an unstable reality ahead of us," he added
Because it is not possible to know how long it will take until the region stabilizes, the prime minister said, "We must behave cautiously. This is not the time for hasty actions."
'Hasty actions'? How much money was transferred to Hamas before we acted?
In post-Gaddafi Libya, he said, "there is a large stockpile of weapons that is leaking out (of the country) and reaching our area," something he said has ramifications on Israel's security needs.
And that's a reason to give Abu Mazen more money? So he can give to Hamas and Hamas can buy those weapons?
What could go wrong?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Binyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian tax transfers
Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler
Here's Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler for Friday, November 25.
1) The option play
There's some interesting reporting in Israel Halts Payments to Palestinian Authority, Adding to Fiscal Woes. First we have:
Another Israeli official said that when the decision was made to withhold payment around Nov. 1, there had been several troubling developments from Israel’s point of view. First, he said, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said nothing after a rocket from Gaza killed someone in southern Israel. Then Mr. Abbas seemed to praise the abduction of an Israeli soldier five years ago and said he would never recognize a Jewish state. Finally, the Palestinians joined Unesco — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — a move that Israel rejected as another unilateral step toward statehood.
“We wanted to make clear this could not be business as usual,” the official said. “The idea is to influence Palestinian decision-making.”
This is very clear. I would quibble only that the charges against the Palestinian Authority are presented as the view of an Israeli official. All of this information is freely available and could have been reported in the reporter's own words; instead it is presented as an Israeli view. Then we have:
The transfer of the more than $100 million a month is not, in theory, optional. It is mandated by the 1994 portion of the Oslo agreement. The money is made up of customs duties that Israel collects for Palestinian orders arriving here through Israeli ports, value-added taxes on major Palestinian purchases of Israeli goods and excise taxes on Israeli fuel bought by the Palestinians.
But the Israelis argue that by approaching the United Nations and engaging with Hamas, the Palestinian Authority is breaking its end of the Oslo accords, freeing Israel to do the same.
Note how the transfer of funds is presented as being an obligation of Israel's In the previous paragraphs Palestinian actions that violate the spirit if not the word of Oslo are only views of an Israeli official. And again the second paragraph is prefaced with "Israelis argue."
Israeli obligations are defined by Oslo; Palestinian obligations are the opinion of Israeli officials.
2) Just like Judas
Daoud Kuttab writes in Why the Palestinians might reject U.S. aid:
Criticism of the Abbas administration has appeared in social media platforms and newspaper editorials. Palestinian Authority leaders have been accused of being security agents for Israel. Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation has become taboo in Ramallah. Meanwhile, even though Palestinians have provided unprecedented cooperation on security, Israeli provocations continue. The Israelis have not stopped building settlements or expropriating Palestinian lands.
It would be a political misstep to accept funds earmarked for security services while schools and nurseries are not completed. Palestinians would see the aid as analogous to the 30 pieces of silver that were accepted by Judas Iscariot when he delivered Jesus — a position Abbas does not want to be in.
If an American Christian commentator had similarly used the Judas analogy - especially in circumstances involving Jews, would the Washington Post have published it? Aside from Kuttab's inaccuracies - which wouldn't concern most newspapers - the reference seems unusually inflammatory.
For the record,
Kuttab is Christian.
Labels: anti-Semitic stereotypes, Daoud Kuttab, Middle East Media Sampler, Oslo accords, Palestinian tax transfers, Soccer Dad, US foreign aid
Priorities: Ban, Blair schnorr for the 'Palestinians'
With Iran about to go nuclear, what's worrying Ban Ki-Moon and Tony Blair? But of course,
getting more money for the 'Palestinians.' "I continue to call on the Israeli government to release the clearance revenues it is withholding from the Palestinian Authority without delay and resume their transfer on a regular basis," Blair said in a statement.
"The funds are vital for the functioning of the PA and Israel's withholding of these Palestinian funds threatens the salaries of some 180,000 employees, including Palestinian security officials who are working to provide security in the West Bank," the Quartet representative added.
"Only those who oppose peace," Blair added, benefit from withholding the funds from the PA.
Earlier Tuesday, Ban Ki-moon asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to resume the transfer of tax revenues to the PA, according to a UN spokesperson.
In a telephone conversation with the prime minister, Ban also expressed concern about Israel's plans for construction in the settlements, while praising the country's "approval of new UN construction projects worth US$ 5.5 million in Gaza."
The secretary-general emphasized the importance of creating "an environment conducive for the resumption of direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians."
Why on earth should we abide by the agreement by turning money over to the 'Palestinians' when they have disdainfully violated that very same agreement by seeking 'statehood' unilaterally at the United Nations?
Labels: Ban Ki-Moon, Binyamin Netanyahu, Oslo accords, Palestinian tax transfers, Tony Blair
Cabinet votes to continue freeze on PA taxes
Israel's cabinet voted on Monday to
continue the freeze on the transfer of tax revenues to the 'Palestinians.' The freeze was imposed in response to UNESCO admitting the imaginary state of 'Palestine' to its ranks.
The vote to continue the freeze narrowly passed, according to a government official. The funds, which are collected by Israel on imports on behalf of the PA, amount to about $100 million each month.
The move comes as representatives of the Quartet are in Israel for meetings with both Israeli and Palestinian government officials in an effort to restart peace talks between the sides.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's envoy Yitzhak Molcho was meeting with Quartet representatives in Jerusalem.
What obligates us to transfer the taxes is the Oslo accords. The 'Palestinians' have violated the Oslo Accords - pursuant to which the sides are obligated to reach a negotiated solution to their disputes - and therefore there is no reason that Israel must or should continue to abide by them.
Makes sense to me, no?
Labels: Oslo accords, Palestinian tax transfers
Stupid Jews give Fatah and Hamas $100+ million; Noam Shalit slams them
I've been meaning to tell you all day long that our weak-kneed government caved in to 'international pressure' and transferred NIS 370 million (a bit more than $100 million) in tax revenues to the 'Palestinian Authority' on Monday. As a result, I find myself agreeing with Noam Shalit - father of kidnapped IDF soldier
Gilad Shalit - for a change.
"Today, after the reconciliation deal signed between Fatah and Hamas and the renewal of the Palestinian Authority's sovereignty over the Gaza Strip, the PA actually is responsible for the kidnapped Israeli soldier held by his captors, who are also part of the new government set to be formed. They are holding a hostage for the purposes of extortion and bargaining," Schalit said.
Schalit said that the Palestinian Authority, together with Hamas, was now guilty of "a clear war crime."
"Unfortunately we received no explanation of why the tax funds were transferred to the Palestinian Authority given these facts," Schalit said.
Shalit is right. With the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, the charade that there is a separation between Hamas and Fatah is over. Giving money to Fatah is giving money to Hamas. End of story. And the 'Palestinians' know it.
PA spokesperson Ghassan Khatib said that the transfer of money from is a "success of the Palestinian campaign that called on the international community to pressure Israel to transfer the funds."
Meanwhile, the Netanyahu government pretends that the money won't reach Hamas.
The comments come after Israel agreed on Sunday to release millions of dollars in suspended tax transfers to the PA after receiving assurances the money will not fall into the hands of Hamas.
Money is fungible. Those 'assurances' are meaningless.
And Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz followed up with another empty threat.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz described the two-week freeze of the funds as a "yellow card" to the PA, and warned that if it eventually formed a unity government with Hamas, or if it started funding terrorist activity, Israel would again block the transfers.
Until the next time the Europeans demand that we give the money to the 'Palestinian Authority'? What could go wrong?
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Gilad Shalit, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Noam Shalit, Palestinian tax transfers, Yuval Steinitz
Hamas' useful idiots: The American Left, Ban Ki-Moon and the European Union
James Kirchick has pretty much got it right when he summarizes the consequences of the Hamas-Fatah unity pact on the 'peace process' and the Western
useful idiots who support it.
Most perverse has been the attempt by the unity agreement's Western backers to conflate it with the democratic movements sweeping the Arab world. As soon as rumor of the agreement broke, the Guardian editorialized that, "The Arab spring has finally had an impact on the core issue of the region, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Carter deemed the agreement the "Palestinian contribution to the "Arab awakening.'" Earlier this year, on the sidelines of the Al Jazeera Forum, Levy told an interviewer that, "Islamists are going to be part of this democratic tapestry. Deal with it. Put aside your prejudices."
Note that these are the very same people who consider Israel-supporting evangelical Christians apocalyptic extremists, yet applaud the empowerment and legitimization of actual, not imagined, religious fascists.
Hamas is everything that self-professed liberals should be "prejudiced" toward: obscurantist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, warlike and rejectionist.
29 United States Senators - all Democrats - decided on Friday that they would not sit on the sidelines as America's biggest useful idiot supports Hamas. They have sent a letter to President Obama urging him to
cut off aid to the 'Palestinian Authority' if it allows Hamas to join.
"The decision of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to form a unity government with Hamas - a designated terrorist group - threatens to derail the Middle East peace effort for the foreseeable future and to undermine the Palestinian Authority's relationship with the United States," begins the letter, which was spearheaded by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Robert Casey (D-PA).
Menendez is the third ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Casey chairs SFRC's Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs subcommittee. The letter was also signed by Democratic heavyweights Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.
...
"As you are aware, U.S. law prohibits aid from being provided to a Palestinian government that includes Hamas unless the government and all its members have public committed to the Quartet principles," they wrote. "We urge you to conduct a review of the current situation and suspend aid should Hamas refuse to comply with Quartet conditions."
The full letter is below the fold.
It sounds like a similar House letter will not be long in coming.
House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) agrees. "No taxpayer funds should go, they must not go" to the new Palestinian unity government, she told the Washington Post May 4.
Also over the weekend,
Israel turned down a request from another useful idiot for Hamas - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon - to release tax money to the 'Palestinian Authority.'
Israel, as of Saturday night, has refused to agree to a request by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to continue to transfer tax funds to the PA.
The request came during a phone call on Friday between Ban and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to discuss the stalled Middle East peace process and the Fatah- Hamas reconciliation.
...
As of Saturday night, the Prime Minister’s Office had not publicly responded to Ban’s request.
But on Friday, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio that the government had no intention of handing money over to Hamas.
“It was important to send a clear red warning to the Palestinian Authority and also to the world that we cannot countenance a terrorist government that on one hand talks about peace, and on the other hands continues, with the money that we transfer to it, to buy missiles and to rearm,” Steinitz said.
But don't worry because the useful idiots from the European Union have already made up the shortfall.
The European Commission on Friday approved the transfer of 85 million euros to the PA at the request of its Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
He had made the request for urgent financial assistance before the deal was reached with Hamas.
But the European Commission approved the matter two days after Fatah and Hamas signed their unity agreement.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Friday that the funding decision “renews our commitment to support the most vulnerable among Palestinians, and is part of our support to the Palestinian Authority’s institution-building program, contributing to the salaries and pensions of PA civil servants who work in health and education. It is important that access to essential public services remains uninterrupted and the right to social services is respected.”
She spoke despite statements by leaders from the EU, the US and even Ban that any new PA government would have to conform to the three Quartet principles: renounce terrorism, recognize Israel and abide by past agreements.
Hamas has refused to accept these conditions.
While Europe and the international community continue to send strong messages to the Palestinians about their expectations regarding its new government, in practice they have continued business as usual, including their expectations that Netanyahu continue to take bold moves for peace.
With all these useful idiots in action, what could go wrong?
Here's the Senators' letter:
5-06-11 Menendez-Casey Ltr to Obama on Fatah-Hamas Unity GovernmentLabels: Barack Obama, Catherine Ashton, European foreign aid, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Palestinian tax transfers, useful idiots
Bwahahaha: 'Palestinian Authority' can't pay salaries
Brotha can you spare a dime?
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday sent out an urgent appeal for help saying he may not be able to pay for salaries for about 130,000 public employees or anything else if Israel does not release about $100 million in funds collected over the last month on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
...
At a news conference in Ramallah, Fayyad said that unless Israel paid the money it owes, he, in his capacity as finance minister, would not be able to pay the April salaries.
...
This time, the Palestinian Authority has not yet paid April salaries and may not be able to do that any time soon because Israel has decided to withhold the monthly payment.
“Israel has no right to withhold this money,” Fayyad said. “This is Palestinian money and it is not a grant or charity from Israel.”
Fayyad appealed for help from the donor countries to get him out of his predicament, first, by financial support, and, second, by pressuring Israel to release the funds. It is unclear whether Israel will be swayed.
Three words Salam:
Actions have consequences.
Fatah and Hamas are scheduled to sign their agreement on Wednesday in Cairo.
By the way, note the subtlety with which the LA Times glosses over Hamas' position on Israel:
Israel said Sunday that it has decided not to pay the funds after the Fatah faction, which controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, took steps to reconcile difference with Hamas, the Islamist movement which has ruled Gaza Strip since June 2007 and which does not formally recognize Israel.
As if they are in any way not committed to destroying Israel (and for that matter, so is Fatah).
Labels: Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Palestinian tax transfers
Fayyad asks 'international community' to intervene over money transfer
Israel's decision to withhold tax revenues from the newly reconciled 'Palestinian Authority' has apparently hit home. Unelected and soon-to-be-ousted 'Prime Minister' Salam Fayyad has appealed to the 'international community' to force Israel to
turn the money over.
The PA has asked the foreign powers to stop Israel from blocking the transfers, which make up 70 percent of its revenues. Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said earlier Sunday that Israel, by its action, had "started a war."
...
Fayyad said the PA was "in contact with all international influential forces and parties to stop Israel from taking these measures," the official Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.
The PA is also heavily dependent on aid from donors including the United States, which has said its future assistance will depend on the shape of a new Palestinian
government, expected to be formed under the unity agreement.
Heh.
Labels: Palestinian Authority, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Palestinian tax transfers, Salam Fayyad, unilateral declaration of statehood
