Israel hampering Palestinian economy at its own risk
Under the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, the Palestinian economy, which was supposed to grow and bolster peace and security in the process, has become a source of utter despair for Palestinians.
First, the good news. Israel is about to transfer NIS1.8 billion ($515 million) to the Palestinian Authority (PA), part of the duties and taxes it has collected for the Palestinians. The two sides hope this will end the crisis stemming from Israel’s decision this past February to withhold some of those funds in a bid to prevent the PA from disbursing regular stipends to Palestinian inmates jailed in Israel and to their families and to former prisoners.
Until now, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had refused to accept any of the funds, insisting that Israel transfer all the money due to the PA or none at all. The bad news is that the fund transfer is like prescribing an aspirin to cure a cancer patient. Israel freezing the tax revenues is only one cause, and not the chief one, of the severe chronic illness afflicting the Palestinian economy.
