JERUSALEM — Palestinian leaders reacted angrily after Israel said it would build 2,000 settler homes and freeze the transfer of Palestinian tax funds to punish them for joining UNESCO.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner cabinet decided on Tuesday to speed up construction in east Jerusalem and in nearby settlements, a day after UNESCO's general assembly voted Palestine in as a full member.
"These measures were agreed... as punishment after the vote at UNESCO," a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We will build 2,000 housing units, including 1,650 homes in east Jerusalem and the rest in the settlements of Maaleh Adumim and Efrat," he added, referring to a sprawling settlement east of Jerusalem and another between Bethlehem and the southern city of Hebron.
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