FOREIGN AID TO PALARABS: NO BANG FOR THE BIG BUCKS
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013700,00.html GIL KOHL
Attention United States Congress!
[Yoram Ettinger: Since 1994, the highest per-capita-foreign-aid in the world
has been provided – mostly by the US taxpayer – to the Palestinian
Authority. Since 1994, there has been an unprecedented intensification of
Palestinian anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-US hate-education and
incitement in PA-controlled schools, mosques and media, an all-time high PA
non-compliance with commitments made to the US and Israel and an
unparalleled expansion of Palestinian terrorism infrastructure and activity.
Thus, foreign aid has not moderated the PA. Foreign aid has rewarded PA
hate-education, non-compliance and terrorism. The following study documents
that foreign aid has also been abused by the PA, enticing corruption and
inefficient economy].
Study shows over 60% of Palestinian Authority’s GNP comes from US, EU, UN,
World Bank. “Donations go toward entrenchment of government institutions
instead of development of infrastructure, industry, human capital,” say
research authors, economic analyst Eyal Ofer and President of Financial
Immunities consulting firm Adam Roiter.
According to the study, more than 60% of the Palestinian Authority’s Gross
National Product comes from the United States, European Union, United
Nations, World Bank and others countries,
According to the study’s findings, during 2009 and 2010 the PA’s reliance on
donations increased – with a 20% growth in donations, totaling some $3.96BN
per year.
In real values, the scope of donations more than doubled within a period of
four years.
The research, similarly to OECD reports, points to the PA’s steadily
increasing dependence on donation funds. In fact, the Palestinian people
receive the largest amount of donations worldwide.
For every Palestinian citizen, the PA receives an average of $1,000 per
annum, which amounts to an average of ILS 2,000 (about $560) per family, per
month. The data reinforces the claim that there is no Palestinian economy,
and that in reality is almost exclusively supported by the donation
industry.
Yes, an economy can be built from donations – if these are allocated for
development, production and infrastructure, but this is not the case.
“The donations toward the entrenchment of government institutions instead of
the development of infrastructure, industry, human capital etc’,” explained
Roiter. “What we have here is a schnorrer country, without which it does not
exist,” he added.
Ofer and Roiter noted that since 2000 – when the rate of donations reflected
10.47% of total GNP – there has been a steady increase in the scope of
foreign donations. The most significant boost began in 2007, immediately
after <http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3377113,00.html%20> Hamas
gained control of the Gaza Strip, and following the PA’s claim that it
needed more funds to establish its regime.
‘No industrial sector’
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s links with the International
Monetary Fund, as well as his “Western” rhetoric vis-à-vis transparency, the
building of government institutions and preventing market monopolies have
helped him with the task of fundraising.
However, according to the study, the facts on the ground indicate that the
governmental apparatus and international aid organizations impede the growth
of the business sector, while donations are used to preserve the ruling
party rather than build a separate economy that is not dependent on foreign
donations.
Ofer and Roiter are not the only ones pointing to the worrying trend. A
piercing article published in UK-based the Guardian newspaper last November
claimed that [Palestinian] NGOs have become synonyms with corruption and
incompetence, hinting at international donors who the paper claimed thwarted
the Palestinian economic development by overinflating the aid industry
without supplying long-term solutions.
The latest study reinforces this claim, pointing to the absence of an
industrial sector in the Palestinian Authority. “Employers lack the ability
or the will to go into industry or development, because they cannot compete
with the salaries of governmental organs and that of the aid workers on the
ground,” said Ofer, adding, “In reality, their economy is solely based on
the trade of services.”
Even grants that are specifically designated for “projects” throughout the
Palestinian Authority are only partially used for their original purpose,
claimed Ofer.
According to Roiter, although it is in
<http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284752,00.html%20> Israel’s
interest to see the PA reinforced rather than the Hamas – the Authority’s
conduct may be dangerous in the long run: “Without the donations, the
Palestinian Authority’s economy will collapse, and this by turn will affect
the security of Israel’s residents.
“The funds go into the pockets of bureaucratic echelons and to the monstrous
administrative apparatus that mostly deals with allocation of funds and
fundraising,” he added.
“Governmental services operate on the expense of the business sector, which
is left at a standstill – instead of developing alongside it,” he noted.
The study also reveals that while the Palestinian prime minister brags in
front of foreign institutions over the scope of tax collection in the PA, he
forgets to mention that 77% of all taxes are collected by the Israeli
Finance Ministry as part of a joint agreement between Israel and the PA. The
former then transfers the latter more than NIS 5 billion (about $1.4
billion) per year, which amounts to approximately a third of the PA’s annual
budget.
The authors conclude their study with a grim prospect – the Palestinian
Authority’s financial and political interest is compatible with that of
Israel – a complete standstill with a false display of “progress.”
“The PA may create a false display of assuming responsibility, but does
nothing to prevent a possible scenario of economic collapse, because it is
easier to live on someone else’s expense,” they conclude.
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