PA president asks for $100 million monthly support from Arab League

Palestinian Authority President (PA) Mahmoud Abbas has asked the Arab League to secure $100 million in monthly aid to relieve the economic situation in the Palestinian territories should Israel impose sanctions in the wake of the peace talks’ failure, informed sources said on Wednesday.

Israeli television reported the news, noting that Israel had previously withheld Palestinian tax revenues as a form of political protest.

According to previous agreements, Israel collects taxes and customs duties for the PA on goods imported into the Palestinian territories totalling about $100 million a month.

In the wake of the breakdown of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks last week, the PA took tangible measures to join international bodies and sign international conventions. The PA president is now afraid of expected Israeli sanctions in response to his turn towards the international community.

Therefore, he is turning to the Arab League to seek its financial support should his fears come true. The Arab League is to convene on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

According to the Israeli report, Abbas is afraid that the US will also halt delivering aid to his authority, instead choosing to stand beside Israel in any measure regarding sanctions.

An Israeli research centre confirmed the reports that Abbas has demanded $100 million in funding from the Arab League and pointed out that this move angered the Israeli authorities as it might make any potential economic sanctions on the PA useless.

Meanwhile, the research centre implored Israeli officials not to impose any sanctions on the PA, because it argued that this would be in favour of the Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas and other “extremist” religious groups.

The research centre said the religious groups always find sources to fund their activities. Thus, any sanctions on the PA would be a victory for these groups.