Smotrich demands more settlements and punitive measures against PA
The Finance Minister said he intends to stop transferring funds to the PA after a Norway, Ireland and Spain announced they would recognise a Palestinian state.
A settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich is demanding that Israel impose a number of punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority as well as approving more homes in settlements in the West Bank.
Smotrich said he intends to stop transferring funds to the PA after a Norway, Ireland and Spain announced they would recognise a Palestinian state.
“At the last cabinet meeting, many ministers, including myself, raised an unequivocal demand for harsh punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority for its unilateral actions against Israel, including its pursuit of unilateral recognition,” he said.
The finance minister also called on the government to take the following steps:
- Immediately convening of the planning council to in approve 10,000 housing units in the West Bank
- Establishing there new settlements; one for each country that recognised a Palestinian state on Wednesday.
- Additional economic sanctions on PA senior officials and their families