Israel’s security cabinet has adopted a declaration to prevent the Palestinian Authority’s collapse while demanding an end to its anti-Israel activities. This move came days after the deadly military raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
Israel’s security cabinet adopted Sunday a declaration to “prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority” while demanding an end to “its anti-Israel activity,” the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The vote by Israeli ministers, which included no specific plans, came days after a major military raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin that killed 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier.
Netanyahu’s hard-right government in January announced a series of sanctions against Mahmud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, which nominally controls parts of the West Bank, over a push to get the United Nation’s top court to issue an advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said at the time the Israeli sanctions were aimed at “pushing (the PA) to the brink, financially and institutionally” and part of “a new war against the Palestinian people.”
The Israeli security cabinet on Sunday voted for a “draft decision submitted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” which says, “Israel will act to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority,” the premier’s office said in a statement.
The declaration also presents a series of demands for the PA to “cease its anti-Israel activity in the international legal-diplomatic arena” as well as “incitement” and “illegal construction in Area C” of the West Bank, which is under complete Israeli control.
It is almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain construction permits in Area C, which covers about 60 percent of the territory.
Another demand was to stop “payments to the families of terrorists,” referring to stipends provided by the PA to families of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and to families of prisoners in Israeli jails or detainees themselves, including those convicted of killing Israelis.
As part of the sanctions imposed in January, Israel withheld dozens of millions of dollars in tax revenues from the PA over its financial support for militants.
The statement Sunday from Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant would present “steps to stabilize” the embattled PA.
Miroslava Salazar with AFP
