E1 Zone No-Build Policy 'No Longer Relevant'
Israel reacts to the Palestinian Authority's winning of observer non-member state status at the United Nations with real-world crackdowns: withholding payment of tax revenues to the Authority and moving forward on settlement plans for the sensitive E1 zone.
As Israel announced that it was withholding tax payments to the Palestinian Authority on Sunday, an Israeli official told Al-Monitor that Israel considers its 2009 understanding with the Americans that it would not build in the sensitive E1 zone of East Jerusalem “no longer relevant.”
“The Palestinians want to use the peace process in order to bring about the end of the state of Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged on Sunday, as the Israeli government said it was withholding some $100 million in tax funds to the Palestinian entity. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas returned home to a hero’s welcome in Ramallah Sunday, following his successful bid to get the United Nations to vote to grant the Palestinian Authority upgraded status in the world body last week.
