The World Bank keeps a running total of how much the nations who pledged to give to rebuild Gaza in 2014 have actually paid.
Nearly all of the $1.5 billion of pledges (as of the end of 2016) that have never been paid comes from Arab countries.
It seems likely that those pledges will never be paid.
Arab nations keep saying they support Palestinians – but they don’t follow up.
The Arabs have been at the forefront of reneging on their pledges to the Palestinians for years.
In the first decade of this century, Arab nations paid only about 40% of their pledges to the PA.
In 2010, there was a big story that the Arab League pledged a half billion dollars to “defend Jerusalem.” The amount paid? Zero.
However, Arab nations consistently tell Western leaders that “Palestine” is the major issue for them. This deception ends up fooling even otherwise smart diplomats and generals who assume that when it is the top agenda item in every meeting, it must really be important to the Arabs.
As always, the importance of “honor” is not realized. The Arabs find the Palestinian situation – corrupt leaders, refusal to make peace, the bitter split between Hamas and Fatah – to be an embarrassing and shameful reflection on the Arabs as a whole. They must try to convince the West that the issue is important to them because they want to minimize the embarrassment.
Appearances is what matters in an honor/shame culture, not reality. Pledges fulfill the appearances.
It is interesting that South Africa, which is very vocal in its support for the Palestinian Arabs, pledged almost a token $1 million – and hasn’t paid a dime.
Here is the list of countries who pledged to rebuild Gaza, sorted by how much they still owe (and will never pay.)
| Donor | Support to Gaza | Disbursement of Support to Gaza | Disbursement ratio of Support to Gaza | Shortfall |
| Qatar* | 1000 | 216.06 | 22% | 783.94 |
| Saudi Arabia* | 500 | 90.41 | 18% | 409.59 |
| Kuwait* | 200 | 48.93 | 24% | 151.07 |
| UAE | 200 | 59.08 | 30% | 140.92 |
| Turkey | 200 | 139.48 | 70% | 60.52 |
| European Union1 | 348.28 | 296.73 | 85% | 51.55 |
| Italy5 | 23.68 | 4.69 | 20% | 18.99 |
| Spain | 22.8 | 14.6 | 64% | 8.2 |
| Germany | 63.32 | 60.67 | 96% | 2.65 |
| Bahrain* | 6.5 | 5.15 | 79% | 1.35 |
| South Africa | 1 | 0 | 0% | 1 |
| Estonia | 1.27 | 0.63 | 50% | 0.64 |
| Greece | 1.27 | 0.63 | 50% | 0.64 |
| Slovenia | 0.19 | 0.127 | 67% | 0.063 |
| Croatia | 0.4 | 0.35 | 88% | 0.05 |
| Serbia | 0.05 | 0 | 0% | 0.05 |
| USA | 277 | 277 | 100% | 0 |
| World Bank | 62 | 62 | 100% | 0 |
| Algeria* | 61.4 | 61.4 | 100% | 0 |
| Japan4 | 61 | 61 | 100% | 0 |
| UK | 32.16 | 32.16 | 100% | 0 |
| The Netherlands | 15.31 | 15.31 | 100% | 0 |
| Canada | 14.66 | 14.66 | 100% | 0 |
| Denmark | 14.46 | 14.46 | 100% | 0 |
| Australia | 13.18 | 13.18 | 100% | 0 |
| France7 | 10.13 | 10.13 | 100% | 0 |
| Finland | 9.31 | 9.31 | 100% | 0 |
| Russia | 8.74 | 8.74 | 100% | 0 |
| Belgium8 | 7.92 | 7.92 | 100% | 0 |
| Austria9 | 5.22 | 5.22 | 100% | 0 |
| India | 4 | 4 | 100% | 0 |
| Ireland | 3.17 | 3.17 | 100% | 0 |
| Brazil10 | 2.46 | 2.46 | 100% | 0 |
| South Korea | 2 | 2 | 100% | 0 |
| Mexico | 1.1 | 1.1 | 100% | 0 |
| Chile | 0.25 | 0.25 | 100% | 0 |
| Hungary | 0.16 | 0.16 | 100% | 0 |
| Poland | 0.1 | 0.1 | 100% | 0 |
| Malaysia | 0.1 | 0.1 | 100% | 0 |
| Singapore | 0.1 | 0.1 | 100% | 0 |
| Bulgaria | 0.06 | 0.06 | 100% | 0 |
| Slovakia | 0.05 | 0.05 | 100% | 0 |
| Romania | 0.05 | 0.05 | 100% | 0 |
| Portugal | 0.03 | 0.03 | 100% | 0 |
| Sweden | 10 | 11.37 | 114% | -1.37 |
| Switzerland | 65.28 | 66.96 | 103% | -1.68 |
| Norway2 | 144.98 | 173.91 | 120% | -28.93 |
| 3,395 | 1,796 | 1599.243 |
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Leave a Reply