JERUSALEM
The Israeli government announced Friday that it would release tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) after having withheld them for over three months, an Israeli news outlet reported.
"[Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the recommendation – submitted by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, the Israel Defense Forces, and the Israel Security Agency – to transfer tax revenues that accrued in recent months to the PA," Israel's The Jerusalem Post quoted Netanyahu as saying.
"In the deteriorating state of the Middle East, it is incumbent upon us to act responsibly and with careful consideration, while at the same time waging a determined battle against extremist elements," Netanyahu was quoted as saying.
In January, the Israeli government halted the transfer of some 500,000 Israeli shekels (about $127,000) worth of Palestinian tax revenue after the PA decided to apply for membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The amount of tax revenue currently frozen by Israel stands at some 400,000 Israeli shekels (roughly $101,000).
The Palestinian government acceded to the Rome Statute on Jan. 2, with The Hague-based ICC accepting jurisdiction over crimes committed in "occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, since June 13 [2014]."
U.S.-brokered Palestine-Israel peace talks ground to a halt last year after Israel refused to release a group of Palestinian prisoners despite earlier pledges to do so.
