The decision was taken at a meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s Forum of Eight senior ministers a day after the Palestinians successfully joined the UN cultural organisation, the source told AFP.
"These measures were agreed by the Forum of Eight ... as punishment after the vote at UNESCO," said the source told AFP.
"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 said, referring to a sprawling settlement east of Jerusalem and another between Bethlehem and the southern city of Hebron.
"It was also decided to temporarily freeze the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority, until a final decision is taken," he added, referring to the monthly transfer by Israel of tax monies owed to the Palestinian leadership. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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