Doha – Arab states agreed to provide the Palestinian Authority with a $100 million monthly “financial safety net” to help President Mahmoud Abbas’s government cope with an economic crisis after the United Nations granted de facto statehood to Palestine.
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Israel has responded to the Nov. 29 U.N. vote by ordering 3,000 Jewish settler homes be built in the occupied West Bank and announced it would hold back payments of customs duties it collects on behalf of the Palestinians to pay an outstanding electricity bill.
In a statement issued on Sunday after a meeting in Doha, Arab foreign ministers called for the “immediate implementation” of a resolution passed at an Arab summit in Baghdad in March, which called for the provision of a $100 million monthly safety net.
But the statement did not give details of how the money would be paid or who would pay.
Israel and the United States opposed the U.N. General Assembly’s upgrade of the Palestinians’ status to “non-member state”, saying Abbas should instead resume peace talks that collapsed in 2010 over Israeli settlement-building.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund said in September that a gathering crisis in the Palestinian economy will worsen unless foreign funding increases and Israel eases long-standing curbs on development.
In a separate report, the World Bank also forecast a $1.5 billion Palestinian budget deficit for 2012, with donor funds expected to cover only $1.14 billion of this shortfall.
Last Thursday, the Palestinian cabinet said at a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah that $240 million were needed every month to meet demands arising from the Israeli decision to stop customs revenues transfers and the failure of donors to transfer previously pledged funds.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank and receives most of its aid from the United States, the European Union and Arab states.
But over the past several years there has been a shortfall in aid coming from Arab states resulting in the PA being unable to pay salaries to its 153,000 civil servants on time on several occasions. The administration has yet to pay November salaries following Israel’s decision to withhold money transfers.
The Arab ministers also called for convening of a donors conference to discuss ways to support the Palestinian people in the West Bank and discuss reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.
Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, pledged $400 million to help develop Gaza during a visit there in October. But recent fighting between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and Israel has caused further destruction to the territory, requiring more funds for reconstruction.
Blah, blah.
just talk.
The pa will never see this money.
An arab that trusts another arab before the money is paid in full is a liar or a fool.
I believe the pa is both.
The Arab states have made similar promises on the past , specifically Saudi Arabia,
The Palestinians have never received a penny of the previous pledges and will never see a penny of this one either.
The Arab states are not noted for their philanthropy, they prefer to steal western money
That’s crazy. 100 million dollars in funds to fresking torrirsm
The Arabs have a history of not living up to pledges of financial assistance to the Palestinians.
Great- now Israel can use that money on something worthwhile.
Remember this the next time you spend $75 gassing up your giant Lexus or Infiniti SUV.
If the made this entity a State they should bankroll them, also. Why should Israel give them $100 million monthly, when all they do is incite us.
It also shows how much the Arab world really cares for the Palestinians, $100 million is not a lot for these oil rich countries, yet they don’t mind seeing Abbas going around like a Shnorer.
Israel is the only Middle Eastern Country that really cares for them.
Very good!! Now the EU, Canada, and the USA do not have to give the PA a dime!!