Israel 'seizes PA revenues' in response to UN vote on Palestine

TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israel's government decided to seize Palestinian Authority tax revenues in response to the UN vote to recognize Palestine as a non-member state, Israeli media reported Sunday.

Israel will use the 460 million shekels ($120 million) of November tax payments to pay PA debts to the Israeli Electric Company, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told the Sunday cabinet meeting that UN vote is a "Palestinian provocation and an attempt to advance their state without recognizing Israel," new site Ynet reported. The Israeli government also unveiled plans on Friday to build 3,000 new settlement units and expedite building in the so-called E-1 area of the occupied West Bank, a day after the UN vote.

Steinitz said Sunday: "It is high time that Jerusalem will be connected to (Israeli settlement) Maale Adumim. We told the US that if the Palestinians would go to the UN there would be repercussions."

The United States, one of just eight countries to vote alongside Israel against the Palestinians at the UN General Assembly, had called the latest expansion plan "counterproductive." more

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