A delegation of Palestinian Authority (PA) officials traveled on Thursday to Egypt to discuss the PA’s plan to detach itself from the Israeli economy, following the decision of PA leader Mahmoud Abbas and his subsequent declarations of the PA’s cancellation of the agreements signed with Israel, including the Paris Economic Agreements.
The idea of the PA’s economic disengagement from Israel has recently become Abbas and PA Prime Minister Mohamed Ishtayeh’s strategic goal.
Ishtayeh, a senior and experienced economist, formulated the “100 Days” for the PA’s economic independence, which is considered his government’s flagship program.
As part of the implementation of the plan, the delegation will meet on Monday with Egyptian ministers and professionals from various fields, after they visited Iraq and Jordan and discussed the same issues.
The delegation is particularly large, and one of its aims is to examine ways of economic cooperation, as an alternative to the agreements with Israel.
The PA government has already stated several times that it will act to detach its economy from Israel and even announced that preparations have begun to exchange the shekel currency with another currency, euros or dollars.
In recent days, the government has also asked Israel to consider the possibility of importing fuel from Iraq. “We are waiting for the Israeli government to respond to this request,” a PA official told TPS.
Authority officials have already visited Jordan and discussed the possibility of making the Port of Aqaba the main port for importing goods for the PA market, instead of the Israeli seaports of Haifa and Ashdod.
In addition, a senior delegation also visited Iraq and discussed the possibility of importing fuels and energy products, instead of relying on Israel.
The PA government is also recently examining the possibility of transferring PA patients to Arab countries, rather than to hospitals in Israel. Such a move, according to Israeli sources, could cause the Hadassah Medical Center damages of up to NIS 100 million a year.
The Authority has also commenced work on a workshop to encourage investment in its territory, which will take place in Cairo this year.