Israel last night announced that it would accelerate settlement construction and withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority to punish it for joining the UN's cultural arm.
| Not a chance in the world the Paleos figure out 'cause and effect'... |
It looks like the Israelis decided that punishing the PA was an option, after all. Next time they shouldn't lead the Palestinians on.
Edit: never mind, that promise was for applying for nation status, not this thing. Sorry "bout that. |
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, convened his inner cabinet yesterday to study proposals to sanction the Palestinian leadership after it won overwhelming international support on Monday for its bid to join UNESCO.
While some kind of punitive action was expected, the severity of Israel's response suggested that Mr Netanyahu had bowed to pressure from right-wing ministers intent on exacting the heaviest penalty possible for what they saw as an act of Palestinian effrontery.
| Or, alternately, that Mr. Netanyahu led from the front, being personally upset over the whole matter... |
| President Obama and the Quartet will not be pleased at this defiance. Especially just after prime Minister Netanyahu gave them his final borders, as demanded. |
An Israeli government official defended the measures, saying that Mr Netanyahu had been left with no choice but to respond robustly to Palestinian "unilateralism" in its pursuit of UN membership and by what he claimed was the growing radicalism of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
"You cannot demand that Israel continues to show restraint when the Palestinian leadership continues to slam the door in our face," he said.
| Or shoot rockets at your kids... |
By withholding Palestinian customs revenues, Mr Netanyahu has taken a step that his defence establishment has countenanced against for fear that it could cause the collapse of the moderate Palestinian Authority.
| What moderate Paleo authority? |
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