PALESTINIANS MISUSE $100 MILLION FROM ISRAEL

Israel Accuses Palestinians of "Hiding" $100 Million
Israeli officials in Jerusalem accused Palestinian officials on Thursday of "hiding" $100 million which the Israeli authorities had delivered to Mahmoud Abbas a few weeks ago. Maariv quoted Israeli officials as saying, "The Palestinians have not invested that money for humanitarian purposes, but they have rather paid back earlier debts of the government." The officials regarded this as breaking past promises. During a meeting between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in December, Israel had promised to transfer $100 million of the Palestinian tax revenues currently withheld by Israel, to be used for humanitarian objectives. (Maan News-PA)