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Palestinian Authority Unable to Pay Salaries, Even as It Pursues Statehood
(Christian Science Monitor) Ben Lynfield - While Palestinians prepare for an upgrade in status at the UN, the PA has been failing to pay on time its 170,000 employees, whose salaries directly support about a quarter of the West Bank and Gaza population. Foreign donations have dropped from $1.978 billion in 2008 to $983 million in 2011, with Arab, EU and U.S. contributions all falling. In retaliation for the UN move, Israel is considering suspending transfers of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said. ''If they breach blatantly the whole framework of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship, then there is no way back and Israel will do whatever it sees fit. He who burns bridges should not complain about not being able to get to the other side."