Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting that taxes collected for the Palestinian Authority and expected to be transferred to them later this month would be withheld in response to the Palestinians' unilateral UN move. "This is a Palestinian provocation and an attempt to advance their state without recognizing Israel."
Commenting on the 3,000 settlement units approved by the government, Steinitz said: "It is high time that Jerusalem will be connected to Ma'ale Adumim. We told the US that if the Palestinians would go to the UN there would be repercussions." (Omri Efraim)