UN chief to Netanyahu: Do not withhold tax revenues from PA
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Hamas-Fatah reconciliation in infant stages, tells Israel to revoke decision to withhold over 100 million dollars from PA; calls on Israel to 'make decisive moves toward historic agreement with Palestinians'.
By Reuters Tags: Israel news UNU.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that Israel should not withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority following its unity deal with Hamas.
"The Secretary-General ... noted that Palestinian unity is a process which is just beginning now, and thus, it would be best to assess it as it moves forward," the U.N. press office said in a statement summarizing Ban's telephone call with Netanyahu.
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United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon |
| Photo by: AP |
The statement added that Ban "also urged Israel not to stop transferring tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority."
Israel blocked the transfer of 105 million dollars in customs duties and other levies it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority on Sunday, following a deal to reunite the two rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah.
Israel has explained the withholding of funds, saying it refuses to let revenues flow to Hamas.
Ban said it was "urgent to overcome the impasse in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Continued drifting will not serve the interests of both parties."
The UN chief added that he was "convinced that realizing a negotiated two-state solution as soon as possible is in the best interest of both the Israeli and Palestinian people."
The statement said Ban hoped Israel would "make decisive moves towards a historic agreement with the Palestinians."
The UN chief reiterated that the United Nations has consistently supported the idea of Palestinian unity under the leadership of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Ban's statement comes shortly after the EU announced on Friday that it would provide an extra 85 million euros (124 million dollars) to the Palestinian Authority to compensate for Israel's withholding of funds in a bid to help pay salaries of essential workers and to support vulnerable families.
A European Commission statement said the EU funds were being advanced under an accelerated procedure at the request of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to meet urgent financial needs.
"It is important that access to essential public services remains uninterrupted and the right to social services is respected," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.
Palestinians see reconciliation between the secular Fatah and Islamist Hamas as crucial for their drive for an independent state in Gaza and the West Bank. The two groups had been at odds since a brief civil war in 2007, after which Hamas seized control in Gaza, and Fatah was left to administer the West Bank.
Israel has condemned the unity pact as a "tremendous blow to peace", with Netanyahu refusing to negotiate with Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction.
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Netanyahu demands Hamas recognition, gets it and panics. Abbas got it for him without firing a shot. Netanyahu cannot deal with it. So he orders the destruction, financially, of the people who got him that recognition. What does Netanyahu REALLY WANT?
Please give a chance to peace!
So Israel must now send funds that will end up in Hamas hands so they can fund sending rockets to Israel as they continue trying to destroy Israel???? Could not find an article with Ban calling Hamas requesting they do not continue calling for the destruction of Israel? No wonder the UN is such jock!!
Pissing off the EU, telling the world that Israel is top dog and will treat the Palestinians like dirt, showing that she cannot be trusted to fulfil agreements she has signed ... it's pure Lieberman.
No momey, no guns.
FREE PALESTINE
A short list of the peace buttons: Push Hamas to realease Shalit (Kidnapping is a crime) Push Hamas to abide by the Oslo Accords renouce terrorism, recognize Israel Push the Arabs to negotiate with Israel - without pre-conditions There are laws about providing money to a terrorist organisations. Is Ban suggesting that Israel should join the EU in breaking thiose laws?
therefore, fund them with $100 million
Deja vu League of Nations 1930s
Palestinian unity is a pre-requisite for the peaceful solution of the problem, and this overrides all other considerations for the West right now.
Hamas is officially a terrorist organization. The UN chief wants Israel to transfer money to a terrorist organization? Aren't there laws against that?
If they have no bread, let them eat cake ! NO money for the terrorists !!
Remember Ban.KI "driftng won't seve interest of both parties" !!! Ypur tight-fisted country allows millions of North Korean to die of starvation and provokes war with impoverishe neighbour to the North.
Israel has only itself to blame. Every negative move, makes it look meaner in the eyes of the world. Time for the people of Israel to take a hard look, and try to change their leadership. Bibi and the hard liners have been total failures, and has made Israel only look arrogant and ruthless.
If you read carefully what the key countries have said, it amounts to the same thing as Ban's statement. But they said it differently and obscured the real meaning by wrapping it with all the politically-correct anti-terrorism phraseology. But it all amounted to: Give them a chance to sort out their problem and judge by the result. Even Clinton said that.
The Paris Agreement delineates the rules of economic cooperation that would be based on peaceful co-existence. It cannot exist independently of conditions of the ground. If the condition of peace is removed the whole paper is not worth anything. The Palestinian Authority has been receiving the tax money and sending part of it to support civil administration in Gaza. Hamas siphons off a big chunk to smuggle in weapons and fire rockets at Israel. No peace, no agreement.
NO NO NO NO, Ki-Moon. Put your pressure WHERE it Belongs--on the EXCLUSION of Hamas from the political arena. Shame on you, the HEAD of the U.N. endorsing Hamas which calls for the ANNIHILATION of a U.N. member state. Israel--USE those funds to heal those crippled by Palestinian/Hamas terror attacks and to repair the infrastructure of Islamic Terror. Create a special fund for this.
The news is great for the Palestinians, and will remove an obstacle for some UN members who see the separate regimes in Gaza and West Bank as a problem for supporting an independent Palestinian state. But the news is also good for Israel: It has a partner for peace. One deal applies to all of Palestine. Hamas already said in the past that they will accept a peace deal with Israel if the Palestinians vote for it, and that is good. Israelis should also have a referendum so that peace, and its expected consequences, is viewed as legitimate by all. Netanyahu of course will seize this unity as a new excuse for not negotiating with Abbas, but he wouldn't negotiate with or without hamas, so it makes no difference. In the recent past, when Hamas won the PA 2006 elections and formed a national unity government, foreign countries dealt with Abbas and with cabinet ministers not associated with Hamas. The Olmert government (of Likud vintage) refused to deal even with Abbas himself: If a piece of the PA government is non-kosher, it is all treif (non-kosher). Netanyahoo is expected to behave similarly, but again, his game remains the same anyhow, only the excuses change. As far as Hamas' position about the interim cabinet not negotiating with Israel until the new elections, this does NOT apply to President Abbas, nor does it apply to the PLO, under which peace negotiations have been conducted. Abbas WANTS to negotiate, but Netanyahu does not, and now he will have a formal "treif" excuse.
Israel is trying to confuse the world. The agreement on Palestinian unity is actually good news for Israel , but not for the present Israeli government which is not negotiating peace with Abbas. A unification means there can be a partner for peace, but who wants one? The joint INTERIM Palestinian government is only supposed to run things until Palestinian elections are held. AFTER that, there will be room for political demands by Israel. Before that, the government will be made up of technocrats. Nobody should boycott them. Abbas will remain the President, and political issues will be dealt with by him. Israel is trying to sabotage this positive development. Incidentally, Fatah is much more popular now and chances are the elections will bring it to power. This will take away the Netanyahu-Barak excuses, so better use them now.