At a time when the Israeli government threatened to impose increasing sanctions against the Palestinians, the US has accused it of hypocrisy, after Benjamin Netenyahu’s government transferred great amounts of money to the Palestinian Authority on the day the unity government was formed.
Israel Today reported that in the wake of the unity government being formed, an Israeli ministerial crew was formed by a decision from the cabinet in order to discuss sanctions placed against the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as look at pushing a bill that would prevent the granting of amnesty to Palestinian prisoners. The paper also pointed out that Netanyahu had no intention in perusing this issue at this stage.
With the rising tensions between Israel and the US and EU, who condemned yesterday the construction of no less than 3,300 settlement units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the EU threatened to pose economic sanctions against Israel.
The White House reacted harshly to the Israeli accusations against the US administration who recognised the national unity government accusing them of hypocrisy. Stung by criticism, the White House said Israel transferred over 500 million shekels (£86 million) to Palestinians on the same day the new Palestinian cabinet was created – and that this was no accident.
They said this reflects Israel’s clear benefit in maintaining the Palestinian Authority to ensure stability and its ability in manage the Palestinian territories successfully.
Haaretz added that the harshness of the American reply points out the anger of the White House towards Israel and at the deterioration of relations between the two states.
An employee at the White House added that the US will continue its relations with the unity technocratic government as per the US laws and continued by saying that “Abbas formed a technocratic government without ministers linked to Hamas, Hamas has no role in it.”