Security services drain Palestine's budget
Palestine's security services continue to receive the bulk of the Palestinian Authority’s annual budget, to the detriment of other vital sectors.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is going through a severe financial crisis, especially since Israel froze in December 2014 the transfer of tax funds, which amount to $130 million per month. However, surprisingly, the budget allocations to the security services in Palestine’s 2014 general budget amounted to 28%, or $1 billion out of $3.8 billion, according to a February 2015 Ministry of Finance report. In 2013, security expenses accounted for 19% the budget, and 31% and 32% in 2011 and 2010, respectively.
Although not available to the public, Al-Monitor was able to obtain figures from Palestinian official sources, who preferred to remain anonymous, reflecting the number of security personnel and their distribution among security services, as well as the security services’ financial expenses (wages, salaries and operating costs).
