Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz Saturday warned the Palestinian Authority from going ahead with their unilateral move for upgrading UN status from an observer to a non-member state. Steinitz told a Israel radio that the Israeli government will stop collecting the taxes on behalf of the PA and will stop economic cooperation with it if the Palestinian leadership goes ahead with the unilateral move. Under the Oslo Accords, the Israeli government administers tax and customs duty payments on behalf of the PA. Israel transfers monthly some 300 million Israeli shekels ($85 million) it collects on behalf of the PA on goods imported by Palestinians and destined to the Palestinian territories. Steinitz said that the Palestinians in backtracked on their plan to go to the UN General Assembly after Israel withheld the tax revenues. On October 2011, Israel withheld more than $200 million in taxes it owed to Palestinians after the UNESCO admitted the Palestinian state as a full member. At the beginning of 2001, during the second intifada, Israel withheld more than $50 million in taxes it owed the Palestinians in order to bring the PA to crack down on Palestinian armed groups that carry attacks against Israeli targets. The PA is suffering a severe cash shortage and is having a hard time paying its employees. Palestinian officials said they would not be able to meet their commitments, including paying salaries, without the funds. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants to present the UN General Assembly with a non-member state bid due to stalemate in the peace process with Israel since October 2010. The US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed after Israel refused to extend a 10-month moratorium over freezing settlement constructions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. On Friday, a senior official from Fatah movement denied media reports that president may be willing to postpone a move for upgrade UN status from an observer to a nonmember state if the US were to offer a “clear objective" for peace talks. Jamal Mhaisen, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, said that the Israel radio report “is baseless and completely false. Such a proposal was never discussed."
