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CiteWill the Arab League pay up?
Because donors are not meeting their pledges, the Palestinian Authority is nearly broke and cannot meet its payroll. The PA told a specially convened session of the Arab League today that it needs an immediate injection of $300 million. Already, PA employees are on half salary.
This is not because the United States or the EU is failing to support the PA financially, nor because Israel is failing to pass on withheld tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA; the US, EU, and Israel are meeting their commitments. It is solely because Arab states are not paying up, as PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has candidly pointed out.
And yesterday PA Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki said the same thing: “The importance of the meeting is that it has become urgent that the Arab countries meet their financial obligations, particularly given the looming possibility that the Palestinian Authority will be unable to pay salaries for this current month and the next one, which is Ramadan.”
This is a simple and quick test of the oil-rich Gulf states, and especially Saudi Arabia. With crude oil in the area of $100 a barrel, it is not a measure of their financial ability; they have the money. And that being the case, this is a far better test than speeches and UN votes of just how committed to Palestinian progress they really are.
But what is the meaning of this tight-fistedness? You raise more questions than you answer. Do the Arab oil satraps want to derail the PA’s independence bid the UN? How does it factor into the region’s Sunni-Shiite power struggle? Don’t the Arab oil nations always fail to honor their pledges to the PA? If so, what’s different now? Is the PA simply publicizing this non-news to gain some political advantage, and if so, what advantage? Surely advertising their insolvency isn’t going to help at the UN. Please explain.
It could be that the oil-rich gulf states are as concerned as Israel over a Palestinian State and rightfully so .
It’s time the USA did what the Arabs do. After all, they understand their neighborhood best. They know a “Palestinian state” is just another silly fantasy created to be a thorn in Israel’s, so why throw good money after bad?
A response to Diane:
Your questions are all good ones. In my view, the PA is publicizing this at the risk of annoying its Arab benefactors simply because it is broke and really needs the money. With elections coming, the PA (and behind it, Fatah) must be able to argue it can deliver while Hamas cannot. As to why the Arab governments are not meeting their pledges, my view is that they care more about being seen to support the Palestinians than they do about actually helping them. Their speeches are largely for domestic consumption.