Mladenov: Israel must help Palestinians economically survive coronavirus
Earlier this week, Nickolay Mladenov warned about the potential financial collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFUN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Israel should refrain from annexing West Bank settlements and should instead take steps to help Palestinians survive the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Special Coordinator to the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov tweeted on Tuesday.Earlier this week, he warned about the potential financial collapse of the Palestinian Authority.On Monday, Mladenov tweeted that he met with Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Likud).“Very encouraging meeting with @KahlonMoshe on the steps that #Israel is taking in coordination with the #Palestinian Authority to alleviate the negative socio-economic impact of #COVID19. #UN has callled on all sides to cooperate in a time of crisis,” Mladenov wrote.On Tuesday he spoke with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit about the economy and potential Israeli plans to annex West Bank settlements.“Cooperation, not unilateral action is needed today,” Mladenov tweeted. He thanked Aboul Gheit for his “support for the joint appeal by the #UN envoys to the #MiddleEast."According to the World Bank the Palestinian economy is expected to contract by 2.5% and that is the best case scenario. It estimated that the contraction number could be as high as 7% if the COVID-19 crisis continued for over four months, the World Bank told The Jerusalem Post.The Palestinian Authority needs $120 million just to deal with the medical needs from COVID-19. After that it estimated that PA debt could exceed $1 billion, the World Bank said. The PA has estimated that the debt is as high as $1.4 billion.A quarter of the Palestinian workforce was already unemployed and 24% of Palestinians lived below the poverty line on $5.5 a day, the World Bank said. COVID-19 only made that worse.
