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The Palestinian Authority Is Complicit in Its Own Economic Stagnation

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Khaled Abu Toameh - The Palestinian leadership's rejection of normalized relations with Israel that were established in 1993 with the Oslo Accords has created an economic void, hurting the Palestinian public. The Oslo vision has been undermined, largely because of measures by the Palestinian leadership to publicly shun Israeli-Palestinian economic cooperation and stifle domestic Palestinian business initiatives and innovation. Without the existence of a viable independent economy, or government encouragement of the joint initiatives laid out in the Oslo Accords, many Palestinians in the West Bank have become largely dependent on Israel and private Israeli business and industry for their economic livelihoods. In short, the Palestinian leadership has quashed any major joint initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians intended to benefit both publics. This unfriendly business environment has also discouraged foreign investors. The Palestinian leadership and its NGO partners and supporters have distracted the international focus from addressing Palestinian economic development, liberalization, and infrastructural development. Unlike much of the developing world, the Palestinian leadership has refused to develop its economy in conjunction with its economically thriving Israeli neighbor, who is potentially the prospective Palestinian state's strongest trading partner. Thus, the Palestinian leadership has been complicit in its own economic stagnation. The Palestinian leadership would be well advised to follow the lead of its citizenry and cooperate closely with its Israeli neighbor, learning from and adapting to the Start-up Nation culture that Israeli entrepreneurs have attempted to share with Palestinian colleagues in an effort to forge a better common future. The writer, an Israeli-Arab journalist, is a fellow at the Gatestone Institute.
2018-06-19 00:00:00
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