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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities on Saturday froze the transfer of tax funds collected by Israel for the Palestinian Authority in response to President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to sign the Rome Statute, an official told AFP.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not elaborate.

The Israeli news site Ynet said Israel froze 500 million shekels ($127 million) of tax funds typically distributed each month.

Citing "Israeli sources," Ynet said the decision was made Thursday during a discussion between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the freeze was a war crime.

"This decision is a new Israeli war crime, but we won't back off in the face of those pressures," he told AFP.

Abbas' request to join the Hague-based International Criminal Court angered Israel and earned sharp criticism from the US. Netanyahu has urged the ICC to reject the request based on the fact that the PA is not a state.

Under interim peace deals, Israel collects taxes on behalf of the PA, money it needs to pay public sector salaries.

Each month, PA salaries cost around $200 million, $120 million of which is covered the taxes collected by Israel.

Israel has previously frozen payments to the PA during times of heightened security and diplomatic tensions, provoking strong international criticism, such as when the UN cultural body UNESCO granted the Palestinians full membership in 2011.

AFP contributed to this report.
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Israel plans to hold more than $127m collected on behalf of the Palestinians for the month of December; Erekat: Freezing tax revenues 'a war crime.'

By Barak Ravid for Haaretz

Israel has decided to freeze the transfer of half a billion shekels (more than $127 million) in tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinians following the Palestinians' recent attempts to join the International Criminal Court, an Israeli official has told Haaretz.

"The funds for the month of December were due to pass on Friday, but it was decided to half the transfer as part of the response to the Palestinian move," the official said.

Israel, he said, would not let the Palestinians' actions go unanswered. "We are a law-abiding nation that actively investigates its own conduct, and we can prove that easily."

"So in regards to the international arena, we will not only defend ourselves against the Palestinians' actions, we will also go on the offensive. And when it comes to war crimes, we have quite a bit of ammunition – the butter is smeared all over the heads of Abbas and his friends. They chose to go out into the sun, and there will be a price for that."

The decision was the result of a meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened Thursday to discuss Israel's response to the Palestinian Authority's application to join the ICC.

Saeb Erekat, member of the PLO Executive Committee and the former chief Palestinian negotiator, said that the move was "daylight robbery and an act more appropriate to pirates and not governments."

"This is money that is Palestinian money and therefore the decision of the Israeli government and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to freeze it is against international law and it proves the justice of our request to the International Criminal Court. What Israel did is a war crime that joins the crimes it has committed against the Palestinian people," Erekat told Haaretz.

The Labor-Hatnuah bloc also criticized the move. "Netanyahu has no solutions to Israel's declining situation in the world. Weak before Abbas in the international arena, he is taking steps that on their own will not help IDF soldiers in The Hague," a statement on behalf of Labor head Isaac Herzog and Hatnuah head Tzipi Livni read. "We all remember how Netanyahu missed an opportunity to bring about the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip when he chose to speak with Hamas instead of enlisting the world to Israel's side and advancing long-term solutions."

Meretz chairwoman Zavaha Gal-On concurred. "Half a billion shekels is exactly the money that will destroy the Palestinian Authority, stop security coordination, and endanger every Israeli citizen," she said.

According to a Reuters report on Saturday, another official said that Israel is looking at ways to prosecute senior Palestinians for war crimes in the United States and elsewhere in response to the ICC bid.

Netanyahu expects ICC to reject Palestinian bid

Netanyahu on Thursday said Israel expects the International Criminal Court in The Hague to reject the Palestinian application due to the fact that it is not a state.

In a statement at the end of a meeting concerning the Palestinian ICC bid, the prime minister said that the ICC should reject the "hypocritical application by the Palestinian Authority" out of hand "since the Palestinian Authority is not a state."

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour submitted the request to join 22 international treaties, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court at the Hague on Friday evening to the UN offices in New York. The documents were signed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday.

The process of joining the ICC takes 90 days from the moment the documents are submitted.