JERUSALEM, Jan. 19 — Israel transferred $100 million in tax revenues to the office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as part of a plan to bolster him and keep money out of the hands of the Hamas government, officials said today.
The money is intended to meet Palestinian humanitarian needs and other basic expenses, but is not to be used to pay the overdue salaries of Palestinian government workers, according to Israeli officials.
The money was transferred "to a special account to ensure the money does not reach the Hamas government and cannot be used for perpetrating terror against Israel," according to a statement from the office of Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert.
Israel collects more than $50 million a month in taxes and customs revenues on behalf of the Palestinians under an arrangement dating to the 1990s, when the two sides were holding peace negotiations.
However, Israel began withholding the money after Hamas won the Palestinian elections a year ago and took control of the Palestinian Authority cabinet and the legislature. Israel has not said precisely how much money it has withheld, but it is believed to be more than $500 million.
At a meeting last month, Mr. Olmert agreed to hand over $100 million as part of a package of moves designed to help Mr. Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas. Israel also has removed some West Bank roadblocks, but Palestinians say they still face many obstacles when they seek to travel.
Hamas says the money belongs to the Palestinian government and that it is not up to Israel to dictate how it should be spent. Before Israel began withholding the money early last year, it was sent to the Palestinian Finance Ministry.
Also today, Israel's defense minister, Amir Peretz, put on hold the establishment of a new Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
When Mr. Peretz announced on Dec. 26 that he had approved the Maskiot settlement in the Jordan Valley, it provoked sharp criticism from the Palestinians as well as American concern.
Mr. Peretz ordered a "freeze in the plans for Maskiot in order to evaluate them thoroughly," his office said in a statement. The plan announced last month called for the construction of about 30 homes for settlers to be built on an old army base.
Israel has more than 100 formal settlements in the West Bank, and many informal ones. Israel pledged to stop building new settlements in the 1990s, and the road map, the stalled Mideast peace plan introduced in 2003, calls for Israel to freeze settlement activity.
Still, the West Bank settler population at the existing settlements is increasing at a rate of more than 10,000 a year and now stands at more than 250,000. The figure does not include residents of East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and later annexed.
In another development, Mr. Abbas plans to travel to Syria on Saturday and will seek a solution to the political deadlock between his Fatah movement and Hamas, the two main Palestinian factions.
The factions have been trying, without success, to form a national unity government for months, while gunmen from the two groups have periodically battled in the streets.
Mr. Abbas's envoys have been holding talks with Hamas leaders in Damascus, including the group's exiled political chief, Khaled Mashal. Palestinian officials say a meeting between Mr. Abbas and Mr. Mashal is possible, though not certain.
The two sides say they have been making progress, though there are still differences on how ministerial portfolios will be distributed and what the government's political program will be.
A new government would seek to put an end to the Palestinian infighting. In addition, it would seek to win acceptance from Western countries that have cut off assistance and refuse to deal with Hamas, though they maintain contact with Mr. Abbas.
In remarks today, Mr. Abbas said again that the Palestinians should establish a new government that would be acceptable to the international community or hold new elections.
"It is very clear how to get a national unity government that can break the siege," Mr. Abbas said in the West Bank city of Ramallah after hosting the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana.
The European Union, along with the United States and others, have demanded that the Palestinian government recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Jordan's King Abdullah II was quoted by an Israeli newspaper as saying that his country is looking to develop a peaceful nuclear program.
"We are actually looking at nuclear power for peaceful and energy purposes," the king told the Haaretz newspaper in an interview.
With Iran, a Shiite Muslim country, developing a nuclear program, some Sunni Muslim states, including Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, have mentioned the possibility of developing their own programs.
Iran says its program is only for civilian power, though the United States and Israel, among others, say they believe Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.
"The rules have changed on the nuclear subject throughout the whole region," the king told the Israeli newspaper. "Where I think Jordan was saying, 'We'd like to have a nuclear-free zone in the area,' after this summer, everybody's going for nuclear programs." -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>