Today: September 3, 2010

 

Israel Invests in West Bank

Posted: Thu 2nd July 2009 11.38 AM  | Author: Sam Hailes

Statistics compiled and released yesterday by 'The Israel Project' show that since early last year, the Israeli government has taken specific steps to ensure Palestinian economic growth and create jobs for those in the West Bank.

According to a 2008 Israeli government study; economic cooperation and interaction between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority has resulted in significant economic progress in the West Bank.

Trade between Israel and the Palestinian Authority increased by 35 percent last year and despite the global recession, unemployment among Palestinians in the West Bank decreased by 3 percent. 

Palestinian officials have said they want Israel to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank, despite the PA admitting more than 12,000 Palestinians are employed as workers constructing homes in the settlements.  

One Palestinian construction worker said, “We come here [to the settlements] because our Palestinian and Arab governments haven't done anything to provide us with better jobs.” According to another, Palestinians employed by Israeli companies earn almost three times what they would earn working for Palestinian companies.

Statistics also show the average daily wage in the West Bank increased by 24 percent during last year and the number of Palestinians given Israeli work permits increased by 10%.

Israel is also in the process of building new roads and sewage systems in Ramallah and Nablus and new schools in Jilabun and Jenin. These projects are helping to develop the West Bank and the overall Palestinian economy as well as generate many new jobs. 

The Israel Project says Israel's economic investment in the Palestinian economy is "especially critical at this time because many countries have failed to pay their pledges to the Palestinians, worsening the Palestinian Authority's financial crisis."

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