By Bilal Kiswani
RAMALLAH, January 16, 2018 (WAFA) – Economic analysts said the Palestine Liberations Organization’s Central Council decision Monday to break away from economic dependence on Israel, as part of the Paris Protocols, contributes to achieving economic independence.
The analysts said the Central Council’s decision requires cooperation between the public and the competent authorities: whereas the public should support national products and boycott Israeli products and the competent authorities in return should reduce taxes and enhance the confidence of people in local products.
Mohammad Shtayyeh, member of the Fatah movement Central Committee, told WAFA the Palestinian people and institutions are able to implement the decisions of the Central Council to achieve economic independence by reducing dependence on the Israeli occupation.
“For example, on the issue of importing electricity from Israel, we can rely on alternative energy,” he said.
Shtayyeh added that “Israel imposes economic dependence on us… For example, we get 95% of our electricity needs from Israel although Palestine has 300 days of sunshine. This can be overcome by developing solar power generation projects.”
He added that the decisions of the PLO Central Council should reflect on the enhancement of national products and the reduction of imports of Israeli goods. “We can use alternative currencies for the [Israeli] shekel, such as the dollar, the euro or the current digital currencies.”
Regarding medical referrals to Israeli and foreign hospitals, Shtayyeh said efforts are underway to reduce the $200 million the Palestinian Authority pays for medical referrals to Israel, by providing treatment at the national hospitals.
“The Paris agreement that Israel applies unilaterally must be terminated because Israel has simply took advantage of it for a long time through its "security" measures that impede the development of the Palestinian economy,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, economic analyst Nasser Abdul-Karim said the decision of the Central Council compels the government to re-structure the Palestinian economy and end its dependence on the Israeli economy gradually, “leading to a future Palestinian economy that is not controlled by the occupation”.
He said the government must adopt economic and social policies to gradually reinforce the Palestinian economy and cease its dependence on Israeli economy.
“Freezing the work of the Paris agreement and reconsidering it is very realistic and necessary… The Paris Agreement is 95% disabled by Israel because it has kept some of the provisions that serve it and which do not lead to the liberation of the Palestinian economy from Israel’s hold. Israel wants a thriving Palestinian economy that is at the same time dependent on occupation.”
In the meantime, Khalil Rizq, secretary of the Private Sector Coordinating Council said that it is certainly possible to cut economic relations with Israel. “If we want to break away from the occupation, there will be opportunities and possibilities”.
He said both the Palestinian public and the leadership should be collaborating in this regard.
“The Palestinian private sector is ready to implement all the policies of the government in order to stay away from the Israeli economic hegemony, and stop cooperation under the Paris Protocol. This will create public satisfaction and we will move to another national stage,” he told WAFA.
“The steps demanded by the Central Council can contribute to speeding up the road to economic independence, although economic independence requires political independence. Still, we must work as quickly as possible to achieve economic independence by terminating the Paris Protocol and then fully boycotting the Israeli products.”
M.N./M.H.
