Cheering Palestinians welcome Abbas after UN bid
Israel Sunday stopped transfer of tax revenues to PA after UN recognition of a Palestinian state.
RAMALLAH: Cheering crowds welcomed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas back to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, after his successful bid for upgraded UN status.
Abbas walked from his car along a red carpet, greeting dignitaries at the presidential headquarters known as the Muqataa. Inside the compound, thousands of Palestinians waited for the president, who was expected to deliver an address.
Under interim peace deals, which Israel says the Palestinians violated by unilaterally seeking an upgrade of their status at the United Nations, it collects about $100 million a month in duties on behalf of the authority.
Meanwhile Israel Sunday stopped transfer of tax revenue to Palestinian Authority.
Israeli officials said, the authority owes about $200 million to the Israel Electric Corporation, and that money will now be deducted from the tax transfers.
The cash-strapped authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, largely depends on the tax money to pay civil servants salaries. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Palestinian official, said Israel was guilty of "piracy and theft" by refusing to hand over the funds.
Israel has previously frozen payments to the body during times of heightened security and diplomatic tensions, provoking strong international criticism, such as when the U.N. cultural body UNESCO granted the Palestinians full membership a year ago.
"I do not intend this month to transfer the funds to the Palestinians. In the coming period I intend to use the money to deduct debts the Palestinian Authority owes to the Israel Electric Corporation and other bodies," Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Israel Radio.
The UN victory for the Palestinians was a diplomatic setback for the United States and Israel, which were joined by only a handful of countries in voting against upgrading the Palestinians observer status at the U.N. to "non-member state", like the Vatican, from "entity".
