(Times of Israel) Neri Zilber - Approximately 70% of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are under the age of 30. According to a 2010 UN report, the Palestinian territories have the second-youngest population in the entire Middle East. But in the West Bank last year, a total of 600 new jobs were created. The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority averaged nearly 9% economic growth annually between 2006 and 2011. Yet much of this was due to increased levels of donor aid and an expansion of the Palestinian public sector. Today, international aid has decreased by 40% since 2013, due both to "donor fatigue" and commitments for more troubled hotspots like Syria. Already, 120,000 Palestinians are dependent on work either in Israel or Israeli communities in the West Bank. The IDF is seeking to increase the legal quota by 30,000. In an ideal world, Palestinians would not be dependent on foreign aid or Israeli largess. The writer is an adjunct fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
2016-03-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive