Israel Releasing Impounded Palestinian Tax Revenue

JERUSALEM — Israel announced on Friday that it would release three months’ worth of tax revenue to thePalestinian Authority that has accrued since Israelsuspended the payments in response to the Palestinianmove to join the International Criminal Court.

The announcement appeared to partly reflect a desire by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to ease tensions with the Palestinians and the United States. But it also was a response to a recommendation by Israel’s security establishment amid fears that the impoundment of the revenue was undermining stability in the area and endangering Israel’s own well-being.

Mr. Netanyahu approved the recommendation of his defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, and of the Israeli military and Shin Bet internal security agency to transfer the withheld funds “based on humanitarian concerns and in overall consideration of Israel’s interests at this time,” according to a statement from Mr. Netanyahu’s office. 

The departing United Nations envoy for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, urged Israel to immediately reverse its decision to withhold tax revenue in a briefing to the Security Council on Thursday. Mr. Serry, who is ending a seven-year tenure as the United Nations special envoy for the Middle East Peace Process, said the Palestinian Authority’s financial crisis was deepening and that Israel’s action was in violation of the peace accords it signed with the Palestinians in the 1990s.

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