Israel’s delay in transferring tax revenue provoked by Palestine’s ‘Oslo’ violations

Your editorial (Irish Examiner, January 5) castigates Israel’s action in delaying the monthly transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, on whose behalf it collects them, as a “bid to make life even more miserable for the people of Palestine”.

You go on to call it “a mean-spirited gesture of retaliation” for the Palestinian application to join the International Criminal Court.

To those not familiar with the terms of the Oslo Accords, signed by Israel and the Palestinian leadership in 1993, it certainly might seem as if Israel’s action is motivated merely by petty revenge. However, an understanding of those terms will make the context clear.