The Media Line has the most devastating description of the Palestinian Authority’s budget woes yet. Excerpts:
The Palestinian Authority is experiencing the worst fiscal difficulties it has ever had since its establishment more than a quarter century ago. The treasury is facing a severe cash crunch, and this could soon reflect on its ability to pay government salaries and conduct daily business, top officials say.In the past, when faced with financial crises, the PA turned to wealthy Arab governments in the Gulf for assistance, but that support has declined.The Media Line has learned that, of the $100 million that the Arab League member countries had committed to the PA as part of a financial “security net,” less than $2 million has been forthcoming, according to a top official at the PA Ministry of Finance.The donors’ share of the PA budget has dropped by a whopping 58% in the past few years, forcing the government to scramble for ways to make up the difference.President Mahmoud Abbas dispatched Shtayyeh to Brussels this week, in hopes of persuading the Europeans to restore financial aid. The PA government has received no aid from the European Union this year.An example of how serious the financial situation is: Gas stations in the West Bank city of Bethlehem have refused to service PA cars, including security vehicles, because the government hasn’t paid its bills.[T]he lack of progress on the negotiations track with Israel has had a major impact on the PA’s standing locally, regionally and internationally.Eighty-three percent of Palestinians believe there is corruption in PA institutions, according to a recent poll by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR).According to the London-based, pan-Arab Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper, during a meeting with Palestinian leadership in Ramallah last week, Abbas became furious at the Biden administration, describing US officials as “liars for not keeping the promises they made to us.”Those promises include reopening the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, providing financial support to the PA, and reopening the US consulate in East Jerusalem.The Palestinians were counting on renewed US support, politically and financially, that would encourage wealthy Arab states to restore their financial support. However, according to the same unnamed source, there is “a clear American truancy about directly returning financial support to the PA, especially as the United States accuses the PA of corruption.”“This has affected the Gulf’s response to the requests from the PA,” the source said.
Yet even though this has been in the making for a long time, the Palestinian Authority hasn’t changed.
It has not tackled corruption. It still refuses to talk to Israel. It remains irredeemably antisemitic. It still publicly supports terrorists, paying them salaries and treating them like heroes. It refuses elections. It signs international agreements with no intention of actually following them. It imprisons people whose opinions it doesn’t like. It is filled with political cronyism. Above all, it never, ever takes responsibility for its problems.
Instead of looking at its own shortcomings, the PA still takes every opportunity to blame Israel. Even this week, prime minister Shtayyeh spoke at the UN Climate Change conference and claimed that Israel was destroying the environment while the Palestinian Authority was doing wonderful things to save the world.
Blaming all of your problems on the Jews is certainly a time-honored tradition, but it only goes so far.
Leave a Reply