Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sent a long letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today (Thursday), warning that if arrest warrants are issued for Israeli officials and IDF fighters, he will stop transferring funds to the Palestinian Authority.
In his letter, Minister Smotrich wrote: "As is known, in recent years the PA has been promoting a series of unilateral moves against Israel in international bodies, including the ICC, the ICJ, the Security Council and the UN General Assembly.
""As you remember, even before the war and about a year ago, I requested, within the framework of the cabinet discussions, to hold a strategic discussion in which we would draw up a profit and loss balance from the existence of the PA and examine our continued relationship with it. I argued that given the dangerous strategic implications of the legal proceedings that the PA is conducting against Israel, the harm outweighs the tactical benefits that we derive from security coordination with it in Judea and Samaria and from its counter-terrorism operations.".
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Smotrich added: "If until now it was possible to postpone this discussion and think that it would be possible to deal with the procedures that the PA is promoting and prevent them from reaching a dangerous point for us, now it seems that the stranglehold is tightening around us with a series of steps that the PA is promoting under the auspices of the war in Gaza, a stranglehold whose purpose is to turn Israel into a leper in the world, harm the IDF and the economy, and unilaterally force on Israel the establishment of a terrorist state in Judea and Samaria and Gaza.".
""These days, the PA is working with the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials, a dangerous and precedent-setting step that will constitute crossing a red line. The PA draws encouragement and legitimacy for its actions from the Biden administration's turn of the rear toward Israel in legal contexts, through the imposition of sanctions on the settlers and apparently also on the IDF, as well as from the harsh tones of the leaders of European countries against Israel in the context of the war in Gaza.".
According to the minister, "The PA is working with Palestinian and international delegitimization organizations to promote an arms embargo against Israel in order to stop the war in Gaza. The PA recorded success in the UN Human Rights Council, which adopted a resolution on April 5 calling for an arms embargo on Israel and its people are legally operating in Germany, France and Scotland to harm the IDF's power building.".
""PA senior officials are encouraged by their successes and the tightening of pressure on Israel and are considering additional multilateral moves that will harm Israel, including advancing additional legal proceedings at the European Court of Justice, intensifying South Africa's proceedings against Israel, exerting pressure on European countries to impose an arms embargo on Israel, and so on.".
The Finance Minister also noted that the PA is simultaneously working "to promote unilateral recognition of it as a state, and after being blocked in the Security Council by the American veto, is striving to pass such a resolution in the General Assembly and is working to form a majority among the countries that will support it.".
""All of the above joins the great international pressure exerted on Israel to allow the PA to enter Gaza the day after Hamas, under the auspices of cosmetic 'reforms' and to establish a terrorist state in Judea and Samaria and Gaza, in such a way that the terrible massacre committed by Hamas against Israeli citizens will give the Arabs what they have not received so far and that October 7 will in fact be the founding day of the Palestinian state. A step that cannot be interpreted otherwise than as a tremendous reward for terrorism, raising the profile of Hamas, which will be positioned as one that succeeded in bringing the Arabs a tremendous achievement that was not achieved in any other way, and in any case a dangerous incentive for terrorism and an existential danger to the State of Israel.".
""In this dangerous political and legal quagmire into which they are trying to push the State of Israel, the PA is a very active and dominant player, as is evident from all the overt and intelligence materials. We can no longer pass this up and dismiss it as we did last year. In the current state of affairs, I am convinced that the PA poses an immediate danger to the State of Israel and we must bring about its overthrow.".
Smotrich mentioned: "The above adds to the fact that to this day, all senior PA officials have refrained from condemning the massacre committed by Hamas against Israeli citizens, and some of them even supported it, to the condolence call that Abu Mazen made to senior Hamas official Haniyeh over the elimination of his terrorist sons, and more.".
""I believe, as I told you in our meeting on the eve of the holiday, that you must announce openly and unequivocally that as these unilateral moves are advanced, Israel will sever all ties with the PA and bring about its immediate downfall and will immediately and unilaterally apply its sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria. Unilateral steps will be met with unilateral steps.".
""Unfortunately, you have not done so so far. I hereby inform you that if any arrest warrant is issued by the prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal against an Israeli citizen or soldier as part of the case being conducted by the PA against Israel and/or if a unilateral decision is made in the General Assembly to recognize a Palestinian state, I will unilaterally and immediately stop the transfer of all settlement funds to the PA and will order the cancellation of the indemnity provided to the cross-border Israeli banks that transfer funds to banks in Judea and Samaria.".
He pleaded: "I ask you to inform all international bodies of this and to instruct the coordinator of operations in Judea and Samaria to inform the PA bodies with whom he is in contact. I will not abandon the IDF fighters and their commanders, and I will not give my hand to the continued existence of a hostile authority that endangers them and the existence of Israel.".
