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How decision to cut Palestinian revenues could endanger Israel

Israel may have the right to deduct payments made to Palestinian assailants from the tax revenues it collects for the Palestinian Authority, but that does not make the decision a smart one.
Members of the Palestinian Police force take part in a training drill in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 3, 2008. REUTERS/Fadi Arouri (WEST BANK) - GM1E4B31HTB01
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The decision by Israel’s security cabinet to implement the law enabling Israel to freeze the monies of the Palestinian Authority is one of the most explosive in Israel's recent history. The law enables Israel to deduct funds paid to Palestinian assailants in Israeli prisons from tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian administration. The bill was adopted by the Knesset eight months ago but then disappeared into Israel’s bureaucratic passages — and for good reason. The political leadership, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at its head, likely understood its dangerous potential and decided to delay its implementation. But then came early elections.

The power-intoxicated Israeli right and the squabbles between Netanyahu, the New Right party and HaBayit HaYehudi over that constituency drowned out the defense system's warnings. The tremendous pressure from the right impelled Netanyahu to implement the law lest he pay a hefty electoral price. It wasn’t long before someone leaked information that Education Minister Naftali Bennett yelled at Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman during the cabinet meeting called to discuss the law's implementation.

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