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Israel Recommits to Improving Life for Palestinians

(Ynet News) Itamar Eichner and Elior Levy - An Israeli delegation to UNRWA presented a list of steps that Israel is seeking to implement to improve the Palestinians' economic reality during the agency's annual meeting at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Israeli Minister Tzachi Hanegbi spoke of providing electricity to the West Bank following the settlement of the Palestinian Authority's debt to the Israel Electric Corporation, improved mail services, and an agreement that will allow Israeli banks to conduct business with Palestinian banks. Hanegbi noted that many of the meetings set up to find a solution to the water shortage among the Palestinian population are boycotted by the Palestinian representatives. However, he noted that "In a very successful meeting with the Palestinian Treasury minister, we agreed to reconvene the joint water committee, which hasn't met in seven years." Some countries that pledged to donate money to UNRWA have yet to do so, mainly due to the influx of refugees within their own borders, or, in the case of Arab countries such as Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, fending off ISIS. As a result, donations have gone down from $800 million to $450-500 million, while the PA continues to amass an ever-growing debt.
2016-09-23 00:00:00
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