Abbas Refuses to Accept Tax Money from Israel for Palestinians

Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, has rejected part of the recently released frozen cash assets of the Palestinians by the Israeli government and returned it to Israel. According to Reuters, Mahmoud Abbas emphasized that Israel returned the Palestinian tax money incompletely. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, had blocked the Palestinian tax money for four months to 'punish' the Palestinian Authority. Israel has expressed dissatisfaction with the Palestinians' 'unilateral' action to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague and several other UN-affiliated bodies. However, following last month's general elections in Israel, Netanyahu, under international pressure, ordered the release of the frozen Palestinian funds. Nevertheless, prior to this action, Israel deducted the costs of water, electricity, and health services provided to the Palestinians, releasing only about two-thirds of the frozen assets. Reuters estimated the frozen funds to be around $400 million over the past four months. The tax money from Palestinian traders constitutes seventy percent of the Palestinian Authority's budget, which is mainly used to pay the salaries of nearly 180,000 Palestinian government employees. Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords, the Israeli government has collected the tax money from Palestinian traders and then transferred it to the Palestinian government. On Sunday, Mahmoud Abbas stated in Ramallah that the Palestinian Authority would refer to the International Criminal Court to receive all its funds. Palestinians officially became members of the International Criminal Court on April 1 this year and have the right to file complaints against Israel. Concurrently, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, requested on Monday, April 17, a timeline to end Israel's 'occupation' of the disputed territories. According to the Associated Press, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN stated that the political will of the Security Council to pass a resolution giving Israel a deadline to end the 'occupation' would be welcomed by the Palestinians. According to Riyad Mansour, the new Security Council resolution should be based on components for the establishment of a Palestinian state and based on the borders prior to the 1967 war. Meanwhile, the Arab League has announced that a general plan from this body to 'end the Israeli occupation of Palestine' has been drafted and will soon be presented to the Security Council. Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, said on Monday at a press conference in Cairo with Nabil Elaraby, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, that Arab countries will coordinate their efforts for Palestinian independence with international programs. This comes as Benjamin Netanyahu stated last month during his election campaign that as long as he is the political leader of Israel, a Palestinian state will not be established, remarks that were strongly criticized by Barack Obama, the President of the United States.