Israeli Report: Major Steps to Promote Palestinian Economy and Governance

Recent measures to ease restriction of movement in Israel’s West Bank are part of larger official Israeli government moves to promote and improve the West Bank economy.
Israeli Report: Major Steps to Promote Palestinian Economy and Governance
Palestinian workers build new houses at the Israeli West Bank settlement of Adam, north of Jerusalem on June 29, 2009. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)
7/11/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/88739213westbank.jpg" alt="Palestinian workers build new houses at the Israeli West Bank settlement of Adam, north of Jerusalem on June 29, 2009. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)" title="Palestinian workers build new houses at the Israeli West Bank settlement of Adam, north of Jerusalem on June 29, 2009. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1827413"/></a>
Palestinian workers build new houses at the Israeli West Bank settlement of Adam, north of Jerusalem on June 29, 2009. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)
JERUSALEM—Recent measures to ease restriction of movement in Israel’s West Bank are part of larger official Israeli government moves to promote and improve the West Bank economy. The measures, taken over the past two years, are in addition to a more recent massive removal of checkpoints and roadblocks in the area to the west of the Jordan River and east of Israel known as the West Bank.

The area is populated and governed largely by Palestinians, but the flow of dozens of roads and crossings are manned by the Israeli military.

Israel is also easing restrictions on issuing permits to Palestinian businessmen and VIPs to enter Israel, according to an official report from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign affairs.

The report was submitted to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) during a meeting held in Oslo, Sweden, on June 6 and 7. “Israel supports efforts by the international community to promote Palestinian development,” said the report.

The AHLC was established fifteen years ago by the government of Norway and is involved in coordinating international aid for the purpose of building and strengthening the capabilities and institutions of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The PA is the governing body of the Palestinian state in the West Bank.

The report covers the measures taken by Israel to boost the West Bank economy during 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. Measures taken by Israel to enhance Palestinian economy include increasing the numbers of Palestinians employed in Israel and by Israeli businesses, and issuing special documents to facilitate the entry of Palestinian businessmen to Israel.

According to the report, 2008 was a year of significant economic recovery for the West Bank, continuing the positive trends reported in the second half of 2007. In 2007, cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority resumed after a lag f a few years.

Daniel Ayalon, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, said in a press briefing on the report on June 8 that although the negotiations toward a peace agreement are stalled, Israel is “moving forward” in building attitude tracks it believes to be pillars for peaceful coexistence: the politics, capacity building and economic progress.

“This government believes that with all due respect to conferences, to press events, and to high level dialogue, if people on the ground don’t feel the change in their lives, then all the talks are not worth too much. In order to have a bottom up approach, Israel took major steps to boost Palestinian economy.”

The report also addressed the efforts made by Israel and the United States to support building of law enforcement and counter-terrorism agencies of the PA. The report states that since 2008, cooperation between the Israeli military and the Palestinian Security Forces (PSF) increased.