An ever-worsening financial crisis has been plaguing the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the beginning of 2018. Foreign support for its budget has been declining and it is expected to keep on doing so given the current political conditions. As a result, the PA will no longer be able to perform its duties and meet its economic, financial and social commitments. Its financial deficit for 2018 has already reached 2.6 billion Israeli shekels ($697 million).

In August, Washington cut $200 million in aid to projects in the Palestinian territories and to PA salaries, after the United States declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017 and transferred its embassy there in May. As a result, the PA had to take severe austerity measures that affected the salaries of its employees and reduced the budgets of many sectors of the government after foreign aid dropped by 70%.

However, in a surprising development, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Egypt and permanent envoy to the Arab League, Osama Nugali, announced Nov. 11 the transfer of $60 million to the PA, as part of the kingdom’s monthly contribution for August, September and October 2018. He stressed that the kingdom will always support the Palestinian cause at various political, economic and humanitarian levels.

Although Nugali never mentioned rewarding the PA for its solidarity with Saudi Arabia, the resumption of its support for the Palestinians, which it had skipped the past three months without explaining the reasons, raises several questions, especially as to whether or not it is linked to the PA’s official position in solidarity with the kingdom over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.