JERUSALEM, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday praised the U.S. Congress for approving a law to cut funding for the Palestinian National Authority over stipends it gives to convicted Palestinian attackers in jail and their families.

The legislation officially became a law on Friday, after U.S. President signed a budget bill that the act was part of it, according to the official Palestinian news agency of WAFA.

During remarks at the start of Israel's weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the law was a "powerful signal by the U.S. that changes the rules."

He said the law cuts "hundreds of millions of dollars for the Palestinian Authority."

The Palestinians slammed the law. Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) General Delegation to the United States, dismissed the law as politically motivated.

"The bill rewards the illegal Israeli occupation and ongoing violations of human rights, while simultaneously punishing the Palestinian Authority," he said in a statement.