Israel not to allow soldiers to be charged at ICC

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday said 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 Palestine filed an application to join the ICC and press for war crime charges against Israel there, Xinhua reported.

Israel is reportedly mulling a harsh response, including a large-scale prosecution in the US against 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.

"Palestinian authority has chosen confrontation with Israel and we will not sit idle," he added, without elaborating on any specific moves.

Already Saturday, the Israeli authorities decided to withhold half a billion shekel (about $128 million) 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 Sunday, he told Israel's Ynet news website that "withholding the funds will bring 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 neighbourly 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.