Israel and the PA in an enduring unbalanced relationship

February 28th, 2015

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Benjamin Netanyahu with Mahmoud Abbas

The relationship between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) has never been an easy one, but has been in a particularly bad state since last April, when Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party signed a reconciliation agreement with Hamas, the militant party that controls Gaza. Israeli anger at the decision led to the breakdown of US-brokered peace talks, which were already floundering.

Subsequently, things have gone from bad to worse between Israel and the PA. Faced with the failure of yet another round of talks, Abbas and his colleagues have pursued their push for international diplomatic recognition outside the dictates of Israel and America. This began in 2012, when Palestine sought and was granted “non-member observer status” at the UN. This opened the door for Palestine to apply to join various UN agencies, including the International Criminal Court. In the face of strong opposition from Israel and the US, Abbas decided to push ahead, seeking to join 20 international agencies and treaties, including the Rome Statute at the ICC. The PA hopes that, if Palestine signs up to this statute, prosecutors will investigate alleged crimes against humanity by Israel.

In response to the move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promptly decided to withhold Palestinian tax revenues. That was in early January, when $127 million in taxes and custom revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA was withheld. The move was criticised by the US and even by Israel’s own president, Reuven Rivlin, who said that it was not in the interests of either Israel or the Palestinians. “We conveyed to the Israelis that freezing the tax revenues is an action that raises tensions,” US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at the time. “We oppose any actions that raise tensions and we call on both sides to avoid it.” Yet, at the same time, Psaki reiterated strong US opposition to Palestine joining the ICC, warning that it was within the power of Congress to cut the $440 million in aid is gives the PA annually.

In the past, Israel has frozen these tax revenues and quietly reinstated them – but not this time. The revenue, of more than $100 million a month, is still being held back, with most analysts agreeing that Netanyahu is unlikely to unfreeze payments until after the Israeli elections on 17 March.

The tax and customs revenue provides around 60 per cent of the PA’s monthly budget, and is primarily used to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of public employees in the West Bank and Gaza Strop, including teachers, police officers, and nurses. The economy in the Palestinian territories is weak at the best of times; these are not people who can easily afford to go without payment for months on end. The withholding of these funds has been condemned by Palestinian leaders as another example of Israeli collective punishment against Palestinians. A further 25 per cent of the PA’s annual income comes from international aid – so if the US makes good on its threat to reduce assistance, it could have a serious impact, unless Arab countries step in to fill the shortfall.

For now, the PA is in dire straits, unable to pay employees, and concerned about its future viability. Speaking to reporters this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry strengthened his criticism of Israel. He warned that if the PA didn’t receive funds soon, it could “even decide to disband as a result of their economic predicament, and that could happen in the near future if they don’t receive additional revenues.” The EU has been stronger in its condemnation, with a spokesman stating that: “The EU believes that it is not Israel’s right to withhold the Palestinian cash and use it politically to put pressure on the Palestinians under any justifications.”

But this criticism has fallen on deaf ears, with no sign that the freeze will end before the elections. Netanyahu’s entire electoral strategy hinges upon portraying himself as tough on security and on protecting Israel’s interests, so he will be reluctant to do anything that could be perceived as a concession to the Palestinians. Of course, American calls to restore the funding should be taken with a pinch of salt: they are criticising Israeli actions on the one hand while simultaneously threatening to take very similar actions themselves on the other.

“This is not Israel’s money,” Said Haida, the chairman of the department of economics at Bir Zeit University told Israeli media. “This is Palestinian money, and it should not be affected by our legitimate struggle to end the occupation. It has nothing to do with the ICC.”

Palestinian leaders have a right to seek international recognition; withholding the tax revenue they are entitled to only highlights, once again, the asymmetrical nature of this conflict.