Two crucial problems are taking place simultaneously in the occupied West Bank this week. Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation is quickly worsening, and the economic situation is reaching a point of real danger. All together this dangerous combination can easily result in major breakout of violence.  

Teachers went on nationwide general strike [Dec. 19-20] protesting the failure of the Palestinian Authority to pay their salaries, causing major disruptions throughout the Palestinian areas. The general strike produced a short-term reprieve when it was announced that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the Palestinian Monetary Authority convinced local banks to advance the PA $100 million to provide partial payment to the teachers expected by the middle of next week. The Palestinian Authority has been promised a safety net from the Arab League which apparently kicks in only in the new year.

But while the economic situation is reaching dangerous levels, the security relations threaten to cause major disruptions. The Israeli leading daily Yediot Ahranot related that the Israeli chief of staff Benny Gatz gave a sobering briefing to soldiers who will be placed in the West Bank, advising them to use wisdom and patience in dealing with Palestinians. The advice given to Israeli soldiers, according to Yediot, came after an incident weeks earlier in which Palestinian police for the first time stood up to an Israeli army unity attempting to enter Tulkarem to arrest Palestinians. The report noted that Palestinians informed their Israeli counterparts that Palestine after Nov. 29 is different than Palestine before that important date, when the state of Palestine was voted in by the UN as an observer state. While the Oslo Accords provides security sovereignty for the Palestinian Authority in major cities, Israeli army troops have regularly violated this issue and have raided populated Palestinian cities to carry out arrests.

The combination of bad economic future and receding security conditions could provide the environment that could witness widespread violence throughout Palestine. The economic/security combination is being experienced at the same time that Israel is continuing an escalating settlement policy that has brought the anger of even their most recent friends the Check [sic] government. A Likud spokesman has admitted that the settlement frenzy is related to the upcoming Israeli elections. As part of the Israeli decision to ‘punish’ Palestinians for ‘daring’ to ‘defy' and go to the UN, Israel has withheld Palestinian tax funds collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and has approved numerous decisions to increase settlement activities especially in the East Jerusalem area.