Israel not to allow soldiers to be hauled at ICC: Netanyahu

JERUSALEM, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel will not allow its soldiers to be charged for war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Netanyahu's remarks came two days after the Palestinian National Authority filed an application to join the ICC and press war crimes charges against Israel there.

Israel is reportedly mulling a harsh response, including a large-scale prosecution in the United States against the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, and other officials, according to local media.

"It is the Palestinian Authority leaders -- who have allied with the war criminals of Hamas -- who must be called to account," Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting. "The Palestinian Authority has chosen confrontation with Israel and we will not sit idly by," he added, without elaborating on any specific moves.

Already on Saturday, the Israeli authorities decided to withhold half a billion shekel (about 128 million U.S. dollars) worth of tax revenue it collected on the Palestinian Authority's behalf, as a first punitive measure.

Former Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat slammed the measure on Sunday, telling Israel's Ynet news website that "withholding the funds will bring to ruin and destruction and prevents the payment of salaries to schools and hospitals and people won't have food."

"I hope the Israelis vote for peace with the Palestinians, for neighborly ties with the Palestinians," he added.

The ICC can prosecute individuals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes that are committed after July 1, 2002, when its founding Rome Treaty was signed.

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