He said in a statement that he had informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would no longer send tax revenues to the authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank in close cooperation with Israel.
Mohammad Mustafa, the recently inaugurated Palestinian Authority prime minister, warned that the dire fiscal situation was contributing to a “very serious moment” in the West Bank, which has faced increasing unrest since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority is already in a severe financial crisis following tightened Israeli restrictions on its funding and a depressed West Bank economy stemming from the war.
Top Israeli officials, including Mr. Netanyahu, have repeatedly excoriated international recognition of a Palestinian state as a “prize for terrorism” after the Oct. 7 attack.
Most of the current hard-line Israeli government rejects the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, practically ruling out peace talks to end Israel’s decades-long occupation.
President Biden and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken have said that after the war, Gaza should be unified with the West Bank under a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority.
The original article contains 919 words, the summary contains 182 words. Saved 80%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!