JERUSALEM — Palestinian leaders reacted angrily after Israel said it would build 2,000 settler homes and freeze the transfer of Palestinian tax funds to punish them for joining UNESCO.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner cabinet decided on Tuesday to speed up construction in east Jerusalem and in nearby settlements, a day after UNESCO's general assembly voted Palestine in as a full member.
"These measures were agreed... as punishment after the vote at UNESCO," a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We will build 2,000 housing units, including 1,650 homes in east Jerusalem and the rest in the settlements of Maaleh Adumim and Efrat," he added, referring to a sprawling settlement east of Jerusalem and another between Bethlehem and the southern city of Hebron.
"It was also decided to temporarily freeze the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority," he added.
Every month, Israel transfers to the Palestinian Authority tens of millions of dollars in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports. The money constitutes a large percentage of the Palestinian budget.
Israel often freezes the transfer of funds as a punitive measure in response to diplomatic or political developments viewed as harmful.
A statement from Netanyahu's office said the decisions were taken during a "first discussion" of the UNESCO issue. Further steps would be considered at the next meeting of the so-called Forum of Eight senior ministers.
The Palestinians' presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina reacted angrily.
He called on the Middle East Quartet and the US administration to "put an end to this recklessness" which he warned would have "negative consequences" for the whole region.
"The Israeli decision to speed up settlement construction with the construction of 2,000 new housing units is an Israeli decision to accelerate the destruction of the peace process," he told AFP.
"And the freezing of funds is stealing money from the Palestinian people."
The Palestinian request for UNESCO membership was approved by the UN cultural organisation's general assembly at a vote in Paris on Monday, despite strong opposition from the United States and Israel.
