Some of the early decisions by the right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been contrary to conventional thinking following an election victory. It was predicted that he would most likely release tax money withheld from the Palestinian government and would reverse some decisions regarding settlement expansion. This is precisely what Netanyahu has done, but his actions seem not to have fooled or assuaged anyone.
The Palestinian Ministry of Finance refused to see the announced release of funds rightly belonging to Palestinians as a kind gesture. They also sharply criticized an Israeli decision to continue to hold on to some of the funds, allegedly to cover debts of the Palestinian government. The ministry issued a press release insisting on receipt of all the withheld tax money and asserting that only established accounting procedures were acceptable. “Any unilateral reduction of the earmarked monies outside the agreed-upon accounting procedures is yet another punishment of the Palestinian people,” the statement said.
A similar refusal to accept the Israeli gesture was issued by the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) National Bureau to Defend the Land and Resist Colonial Settlements (NBPRS). In a report dated March 21-28, the PLO’s Madiha al-Araj mocked the prime minister’s actions, referring to “Netanyahu’s maneuver,” which was announced March 27, as “a step backwards, in preparation for two steps forward.” The dichotomy between what Netanyahu says for international consumption and the situation on the ground in the occupied territories is the overall focus of the 1,400-word report by the bureau.
In trying to justify to supporters Netanyahu’s decision to delay a planned expansion of the Har Homa settlement, his office attempted to distance itself from the announcement, claiming it had never received the building plans. Netanyahu’s office denied that it had asked planning committees to postpone meetings to approve the expansion of Har Homa, which is built on Palestinian land at Jabal Abu Ghneim, between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem. The Israeli Ministry of Housing, however, exposed Netanyahu’s attempted deflection by announcing that all the documents had been in order and were deposited with the appropriate committee.
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