When the Israeli and the Palestinian leaders said "no" to US Secretary of State John Kerry in May, they drove their countries’ economies into troubled times.

Accepting a framework agreement would have brought both sides tremendous economic advantages. Israel and Palestine were offered an upgrade of their status within the European Union to the highest level of a non-EU member. The Palestinians were also offered by the United States a $4 billion economic package.

From Israel’s point of view, a viable peace process would have also entailed growth of international investment, improved trade and increased tourism. To a large degree, this is also true for the Palestinians.

Today, both economies are suffering. Youth unemployment in the West Bank is at an all-time high, with over 20% of young people jobless. The 2014 World Bank report also indicates that Gaza's youth unemployment rate has reached 50%. Israel suffers from a growth rate of almost zero following the Gaza war, as well as galloping housing prices and a practically unbearable cost of living for the middle and lower classes. In both societies, the poverty rate is staggering. In Palestine, approximately 25% of people live under the poverty line, according to the World Bank. In Israel, about 16% of the population is poor, according to the December 2014 Taub Center report. Defense and settlement expansion expenditures have only exacerbated the economic crisis in which Israel finds itself on the eve of its national elections. If the economy alone would be on the public agenda, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would most certainly lose the next elections. In the words of former US President Bill Clinton: "It’s the economy, stupid."