(Jerusalem Post) Tovah Lazaroff and Gil Hoffman - Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz warned Monday that Israel would halt tax funds to the Palestinian Authority if it formed a new government with an unrepentant Hamas. He spoke just hours after the Finance Ministry transferred $105 million in tax funds it withheld at the start of the month when Fatah first announced its intention to unify with Hamas. Steinitz said he had always intended the suspension to be a temporary measure, which warned of a more permanent step. "From the start, I intended it as a yellow card for a week, and not as a red card. In the end it lasted two weeks. My goal was to show that when a [unity] government [with Hamas] is actually formed, then we won't give them money at all."
2011-05-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive