World Bank Report Addresses Palestinian Economy: Israeli Restrictions, PA Red Tape Must Go

The two main factors preventing the Palestinian economy from being where it should be are the Palestinian Authority red tape that strangles entrepreneurs and Israeli restrictions Jerusalem claims are necessary to preserve the peace according to a newly released report by the World Bank. The Israeli restrictions apply primarily to what the 1993 Oslo Accords termed “Area C” – the section of the West Bank where Israel controls both administration and security and where the Palestinian government has wants to develop the infrastructure and institutions necessary for statehood. That alone, according to the World Bank, would result in growth of a full third in only eight years. The report also suggested that for the Gaza Strip, the most important need is to be able to move people and goods freely. That is being prevented by both Israel and Egypt, the Gaza Strip’s neighbors, both of whom are frequent targets for terror launched by Gaza’s rulers, the Iranian-backed Hamas Islamists.