The Economic Impact of Israel’s Wars: Economic Warfare and Israel’s Goals for the West Bank

Hazim Rahahleh

Researcher and Head of the Economic Studies Unit at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. He obtained a doctorate in economics in 2005 from Darmstadt University of Technology, in Germany. He worked as Director General of the Social Security Corporation in Jordan and Deputy Chairman of its Board of Directors (2018-2022), Chairman of Governance Committee at Social Security Investment Fund, Director of Policies and Studies at the Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority in Saudi Arabia, an expert at the Ministry of Economy and Trade in Qatar, an economic advisor to the General Secretariate the Supreme Economic Council in Saudi Arabia, and an economic advisor to the Ministries of Finance and Labour in Jordan, in addition to his work as a consultant in social insurance reform for the World Bank and the International Labour Organization. He has several economic studies specialized in public policy and social insurance and security.

Meriem Heni

Research Assistant at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. Graduate of the master's program in Economic Development at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and a bachelor's in Business Administration at the American University. She has worked in business and data analysis, and her research focuses on food security and climate change in the Arab region.

Introduction

A full year of the most brutal Israeli aggression in the history of the conflict has starkly highlighted the degree of dependency the Oslo Accords imposed on the Palestinian economy. The 1993 agreement – officially known as the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements – and its associated protocols positioned Israel as the life support machine for the economy of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Oslo system has not only prevented these territories from developing industries and services in order to meet the needs of their populations and deploy their human resources, but has also kept them hostage to the mechanisms, institutions, and arrangements created under the Accords. For example, an annex on financial transfers stipulates that all such operations, whether to pay for imports, receive payment for exports, or even to pay the Palestinian Authority the funds that Israel collects on its behalf, must pass through the Israeli banking system and be settled in Israeli shekels. Thus, the Oslo agreements have become not only a tool for threats and intimidation, but a weapon to oppress West Bank residents, laying the groundwork for more deadly aggression and a new wave of forced displacement, towards which the current, extremist Israeli government appears to be working in a deliberate and systematic manner.

Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies