Israel has come up with a strange tactic: Imposing or supporting economic sanctions against the Palestinians, downplaying or ignoring the effects and then asking other countries to help save it from the repercussions just as they are about to blow up in its face.

With elections coming up April 9, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave in to right-wing demands and on Feb. 17 presented his security cabinet with a plan to implement the so-called deduction law starting this month. Under the “pay to slay” law, adopted by the Knesset in July 2018, Israel will withhold duties it collects for the Palestinian Authority to offset the stipends the PA pays to Palestinian assailants who attack Jews and are imprisoned in Israel or to their families. The decision means an Israeli freeze of some 500 million shekels ($138 million) in customs and other taxes it collects for the PA under the terms of the 1994 Paris Protocol.

Much has been said in Al-Monitor and elsewhere about the law, Israel’s version of the Taylor Force Act adopted by the US Congress in March 2018. Proponents explain the justified ire at the PA for its support of terrorists, while critics argue the deductions are unlawful and slam Israel for equating the tax revenues due to the PA and the stipends to terrorists’ families. Israel, never known for calculating the long-term effects of its actions, is in a bind as it tries to prevent the PA’s collapse and a potential armed conflict with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, all on the eve of Israeli elections.

The Palestinians are gearing up for what they term a “Black March.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced he will reject any payment of the tax revenues if Israel deducts even a shekel. In other words, he has opted to exacerbate the PA’s economic plight and let Israel deal with the consequences.