Report: PA denies plans to abandon UN effort due to Israeli and American pressure

Celebration in UNESCO after admitting Palestine as a member. (Image: BBC)

Update: Palestinian officials are now denying the story that they are preparing to end their push at the UN.

Original post:

In order to get the taxes collected annually by Israel for the Palestinian Authority, 2/3 of the PA’s annual revenue, and funds from the U.S. flowing again, the PA is prepared to end efforts to become members in additional UN agencies and international bodies including the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization. The Palestinian leadership is also willing to abandon a request to the General Assembly to upgrade their observer status to a non-member observer state, and instead just move ahead with the process for full UN membership knowing the effort will fail in the Security Council.

Though the PA proposed to freeze all moves through the end of January, Haaretz reports that the threat of loss of cash flow will stop all Palestinian UN moves for the foreseeable future.

The Financial Times explains what’s at stake in the short term for the Palestinians. It also serves as a clear illustration of the choke hold Israel holds the Palestinian leadership:

The Israeli authorities collect tax and customs revenues on behalf of the PA and are obliged to transfer the money monthly in accordance with a 1994 agreement. The funds account for two-thirds of the authority’s annual revenues, and make up 45 per cent of monthly recurrent spending.

Experts from the World Bank warn that the Palestinian leadership has no way of compensating for the financial loss. They point out that the authority was in severe financial difficulty even before the present crisis, and has already been forced to halt payments to suppliers and increase its debts to private banks to make ends meet. With an estimated US$1bn in private bank debt and at least US$450m in unpaid bills, the PA is fast approaching its financial limits.

Mariam Sherman, the World Bank country director for the West Bank and Gaza, said: “The PA is already in a tough fiscal situation. Tax and customs revenues – along with foreign donations – are what allow the PA to function and deliver services to its citizens.”

Ms Sherman said the authority currently spends about 58 per cent of its monthly expenses on wages for public sector workers. A continuation of the current standoff would therefore have “a negative effect on many families in the West Bank and Gaza”.

An international outcry by organizations, writers and activists is needed to pressure Israel to release the collected taxes before this proposed deal is finalized.