Unusually, the Ministry of Finance announced the disbursement of half a salary to public employees tomorrow, Tuesday, after it was not possible to disburse the usual rates due to Israel’s withholding of clearance funds, which constitute about 60% of the general budget, with the cessation of Arab and international support, and the scarcity of local resources, which would lead to It will cause the crisis to deepen in the coming months, if the United States and European countries do not intervene to provide the necessary support to the authority and pressure Israel to release the clearance funds.

Writers and analysts believe that this crisis is primarily caused by Israel’s continuation of its war on the Palestinian people and its failure to recognize their legitimate rights, and that the crisis is likely to deepen in light of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip and the daily incursions into the West Bank, pointing out that the solution to this crisis lies in opening a political horizon that leads to peace. Ending the occupation and establishing the state.

The government was unable to fully fulfill its obligations towards its employees, due to the right-wing Israeli government’s piracy of clearing funds, in light of the intention of the Occupation Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, to confiscate three billion shekels of those funds, while economic analysts confirmed in an interview with “Al Quds” that the authority was dealing With alternatives that enable it to overcome its crisis, but now it has encountered a wall that prevents it from reaching those alternatives, in light of the large debt accumulated over the succession of governments that has become burdensome to the general budget.

 Professor of Economics at An-Najah University, Dr. Nael Moussa: “The Authority’s high salary bill made it spend 67% of its revenues on salaries for about 170,000 civilian and military employees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but the current crisis places the Authority in front of a dangerous and difficult phase, which will not be overcome unless there is only a political horizon, and I believe The crisis will deepen, due to the practices of Ben Gvir and Smotrich, who seek to open a front in the West Bank, while continuing to deepen the financial crisis of the Authority.”

 Moussa continues: “The United States of America is concerned for Israel and its security, and may prevent this step by finding alternatives through its allies, by supporting the authority financially, to prevent its collapse.”

 Moussa points out that the authority had previously tried borrowing from banks, but now it has a large debt estimated at about 11 billion dollars - and now the choice has become difficult - or perhaps resorting to international loans - but they are expensive - or resorting to austerity - which is useless and not sufficient to solve the crisis. The solution is to put pressure on the Israeli government to release the clearance funds, which are Palestinian funds, which is the best thing instead of searching for alternatives.

 Moussa stresses that the ability of employees these days to endure is weaker than their ability in the past when the economic situation was better, but we are now living in a difficult economic stage. In addition to the war on Gaza and its effects, and the salary crisis, there is also the loss of an important source of income, which is the internal workers who no longer return. To their actions, all of which affected the Palestinian economy and deepened the crisis, and affected all of Palestinian society, stressing that “it is unfair to compare the current difficult stage with the previous one, as we are facing a real catastrophe and crisis if pressure is not put on the occupying state.”

 Professor of Economics at Birzeit University, Youssef Dawoud, says: “The current financial crisis may deepen, as it is compounded by the seizure of clearing funds and the loss of an important source of income, which is domestic labor, which affects the wheel of the economy. We have also tried previous solutions. But now it is no longer useful and difficult, as banks cannot solve the problem due to the authority’s large indebtedness, which makes them hesitant.”

 Daoud continues: “As for resorting to external grants, they are important and possible, but external borrowing has consequences and benefits that may affect the authority’s budget and increase the crisis in the future. What is happening confirms that employees have no choice but to endure in light of the closing horizon of solutions, and what is happening increases the pressure on Palestinian society.

 Economic analyst Jaafar Sadaqa confirms that “all technical solutions to deal with the financial crisis have been completely exhausted, and the previous government was trying to find temporary alternatives to prolong its ability to deal with the crisis for the largest possible period, whether by providing reduced salaries or resorting to banks or taxes, but all of these alternatives It has been exhausted, and the option of resorting to banks is no longer available in light of the lack of a horizon for resolving the crisis. In the past, the crisis was seen as temporary to dissuade the authority from its steps and blackmail it, but the current Israeli government is pushing towards undermining the authority and pushing towards its collapse.”

 Sadaqa continues, “Previously there was the option of resorting to taxes and there was an expansion in it, but now it is no longer available because it has reached the maximum, and the Palestinian economy is exhausted and suffering a sharp decline due to the war, withholding of clearing funds, weak purchasing activity, and workers stopping their work inside the country.” 

 Sadaqa points out that Prime Minister Dr. Since assuming his duties, Muhammad Mustafa has been very active and active in trying to deal with the crisis, without achieving any results so far.

 Sadaqa stresses that the stifling financial crisis requires not only asking the employee to be patient, but rather it is necessary to take measures that will strengthen his steadfastness, in consultation and agreement with banks and service companies to show flexibility with employees, until the features of the crisis become clear, stressing that the current conditions are difficult, even if If it continues in this way, it may push the Authority to collapse, which is what Israel wants. It is necessary to block the road in front of it, and try to prolong the citizens’ tolerance for a longer period, and not respond to Israeli pressures. The responsibility here lies with everyone. “Private sector, government, and citizens,” although the responsibility lies more with the authority and the government.

 The economic analyst and professor of economics at An-Najah National University, Dr. Sameh Al-Atout: “The Palestinian economy depends heavily on sources of income, mainly represented by the source of income of workers inside the country, which amounts to 22 billion shekels annually and was lost after the war on Gaza. It constitutes 35 percent of the resources of the Palestinian economy. The second resource is employees’ salaries.” Payment is made to the private sector, which constitutes 64 percent of the Palestinian economy’s resources, and it is suffering from a crisis due to the cessation of clearing funds and the division of the West Bank with checkpoints, the obstruction of the work of educational institutions, and the decrease in fuel consumption, all of which have inflicted heavy losses on the economy as a whole.”

Al-Atout continues: “The search for solutions to the current crisis must be outside the box, not traditional, and the size of the existing crisis indicates that there is no immediate horizon for returning to the old economic model. Rather, another new model must be searched for that depends on the localization of local products and agricultural production, and building an economy.” Social resistance, which leads to the stability of people on their land, the necessity of working to restructure the budget, prioritizing government spending, and striving to disburse employee salaries as much as the government can.”