02 Nov 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation authorities are considering providing the Palestinian Authority with help to deal with the unemployment and poverty crises in an effort to stabilise it in return for silence in the face of the illegal settlement expansion project, a political analyst has said.
Ahmad Rafiq Awad told the Safa News Agency that the Israeli occupation authorities "agreed on easing the life of Palestinians as an alternative to peace talks, as well as to stop the collapse of the PA."
He added the Israeli occupation "is trying to absorb the anger of the Palestinian people who are affected by the wave of price hikes."
"The Palestinians are angry due to the increasing rates of unemployment and poverty rates, as well as the increasing settlement expansion," he said.
Palestinian writer Isam Baker told Safa that Israel wants the PA to "remain weak," but "it wants the PA to remain alive because it serves Israel's interests."
Awad said that Israel uses its support for the PA and easing the economic situation in the West Bank to claim that it is meeting the demands of the American administration which asked Israel to do its best to prevent the collapse of the PA.
"The PA," Awad said, "cannot reject the Israeli offers," noting that the PA does not control anything related to the life of Palestinians.
Analysts believe this support is the implementation of the understandings reached between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz who met last month.
