Secretary-General Saeb Erekat of the Palestine Liberation Organization has called Israel's offsetting of half a billion shekels from the tax revenues it transfers to the Palestinian Authority "pure piracy". Writing on Twitter, the PA's chief negotiator explained, "This is not Israeli money to start with but our own funds. Once again Israeli politicians are campaigning based on who inflicts more suffering to our people. Once again the Israeli government, with the full support of the Trump administration, takes a step to further destabilize our region, strengthening extremists, collectively punishing..."