Seeking trade incentives, Palestinian businessmen develop economic ties with Israel
Palestinian businessmen flout political taboos by meeting with Israelis for business.
While a political rupture between Palestinians and Israel has been continuing since 2014, when the Israeli government decided to suspend peace talks in response to a new unity agreement between rival Palestinian factions, it appears some Palestinian businessmen are flouting political taboos through ongoing economic ties with Israel.
On May 17, Palestinian businessmen met with officers of the Israeli military liaison service in the city of Jericho in the West Bank to discuss trade and economic issues.
Fatah issued a statement May 18 condemning the meeting as an act of disloyalty to Palestine and a form of treason. The Jericho Chamber of Commerce and Industry also criticized the meeting as one of Israel’s suspicious attempts to communicate with Palestinian businessmen and offering them trade incentives.
A source in the Ministry of National Economy in the West Bank, who preferred not to be named, told Al-Monitor that the “ministry had nothing to do with the meeting and rejected it. Other parties had organized it and we were not able to prevent them.”
