GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The latest unity government marks the 17th government since the Palestinian Authority was formed in 1994, in addition to those formed by Hamas in Gaza following the Palestinian division in 2007. 

Over the last 20 years, these 17 governments have employed 165 ministers, including the retired and others still in office, according to the Palestinian Council of Ministers’ website. There are at least 10 more ministers from the former Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.

Governments are meant to be formed after the election of the Legislative Council every four years, so the Palestinians should have had only five governments in the last two decades. But circumstances dictated otherwise, and the high number of governments has produced 175 ministers, all of whom receive retirement benefits and salaries, adding yet another burden on an already strained annual budget.

Azmi al-Shuaibi, a minister from the first Palestinian government who spent 2½ years in his post, reports receiving a monthly pension of 80% of his original salary ($3,000), or $2,400 a month.