Outcome of Arab League summit could cost Israel $5 billion, give PA $1.2 billion

The outcome of the latest Arab League summit could cost Israel $4 billion to $5 billion in losses, while the Palestinian Authority (PA) could gain a possible $1.2 billion, former PA Minister of Planning Samir Abdullah told Anadolu Agency.

Hours after the end of the Arab League summit, Abdullah told Anadolu by phone that the Arab-Israel economic relations could be used a “pressure card” in the interests of the Palestinian cause.

The Arab League stressed during the final statement of the summit that Israel has to carry out certain measures in-order for peace to be achieved, adding that pressure would be exerted if the government fails to do so.

“There are economic Arab-Israeli relations that started to develop from the beginning of the 1990s,” he said. “There are foreign companies whose head offices are in Israel, which have Arab and Israeli partners.”

Abdullah was sceptical regarding whether the Arab League would follow through with its threats. “The decisions did not ask the member states to reactivate the financial safety network… This means that the support will be based on individual initiatives such what is already being done by Saudi, Qatar, Algerian, etc…”

A monthly $100 million financial safety net for the PA was approved by the Arab League during the Kuwait Summit held in 2010, which issued a decision to disburse the amount if the PA is under financial pressure and if Israel decides to freeze the tax funds.

Abdullah noted that Israel has frozen the PA tax revenue since December and the Arab League has not disbursed the funds.

Former PA Economy Minister Hasan Abu Libdah also expressed his pessimism over the Arab League decisions regarding Palestine.

In a phone call with Anadolu, he said: “At the time when the Arab states were more united than they are today, there were no consensuses over the decisions of the Arab League regarding Palestine. What about today?”

He stressed that the final statement of the summit was no more than a “public relations statement”.