The Economic Costs Of The Israeli Occupation For The Palestinian People

The study addresses the leakage of Palestinian fiscal revenue to Israel and provide up-to-date data on the sources of losses of Palestinian fiscal resources. It explains that the fiscal costs are part of the overall economic costs caused by occupation and consists of two components: (i) Palestinian fiscal leakage to Israel under the PER, and (ii) other fiscal losses that are not leaked to Israel but caused by policies and measures imposed under the prolonged occupation.

This publication sheds light on the impact of the Israeli restrictions on the economy of the West Bank and the socioeconomic conditions of its households for the period 1998-2019, with special focus on the impact of the restrictions imposed by occupation in the aftermath of the second Intifada. It provides an overview of the Israeli restrictions and measures during the second Intifada and the post Intifada period. It then considers a counterfactual (alternative) growth path for the West Bank from the year 2000 onwards, to give some indication of the range of the potential economic growth that could have been realized if the restrictions imposed upon the outbreak of the Intifada had not occurred -or the economic costs in terms of GDP loss. It applies the empirical best prediction (EBP) method of Molina, Rao and Datta (2015) to combine the strengths of household surveys and censuses in order to estimate the poverty headcount and other indicators, which in turn allows for an assessment of the impact of the second Intifada using poverty gap and depth indicators. Finally, the study provides a set of recommendations and conclusions for the occupying power, Palestinian policymakers, the international community, and development partners.

The study addresses the leakage of Palestinian fiscal revenue to Israel and provides up-to-date data on the sources of losses of Palestinian fiscal resources.

This study identifies and assesses existing and potential Palestinian oil and natural gas reserves that could be exploited for the benefit of the Palestinian people that Israel is either preventing them from exploiting or is exploiting itself without due regard to international law.

The main objective of this study is to shed light on the critical situation in Gaza and estimate the costs of the blockade and military operations with a particular focus on the socioeconomic conditions at the household level. It covers the unrealized potential economic growth that could have been realized had the Gaza blockade and military operations not occurred during 2007-2018. It also applies quantitative methods to estimate poverty headcount and poverty gap. The study also contains a set of recommendations for the occupying power, Palestinian policy makers, the international community and development agencies on the need to end the blockade on Gaza and mitigate its heavy impact.

For much of the past century, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has been a defining feature of the Middle East. Despite billions of dollars expended to support, oppose, or seek to resolve it, the conflict has endured for decades, with periodic violent eruptions, of which the Israel-Gaza confrontation in the summer of 2014 is only the most recent. This executive summary highlights findings from a study by a team of RAND researchers that estimates the net costs and benefits over the next ten years of five alternative trajectories a two-state solution, coordinated unilateral withdrawal, uncoordinated unilateral withdrawal, nonviolent resistance, and violent uprising compared with the costs and benefits of a continuing impasse that evolves in accordance with present trends. The analysis focuses on economic costs related to the conflict, including the economic costs of security. In addition, intangible costs are briefly examined, and the costs of each scenario to the international community have been calculated. The study's focus emerged from an extensive scoping exercise designed to identify how RAND's objective, fact-based approach might promote fruitful policy discussion. The overarching goal is to give all parties comprehensive, reliable information about available choices and their expected costs and consequences. Seven key findings were identified: A two-state solution provides by far the best economic outcomes for both Israelis and Palestinians. Israelis would gain over two times more than the Palestinians in absolute terms $123 billion versus $50 billion over ten years. But the Palestinians would gain more proportionately, with average per capita income increasing by approximately 36 percent over what it would have been in 2024, versus 5 percent for the average Israeli. A return to violence would have profoundly negative economic consequences for both Palestinians and Israelis; per capita gross domestic product would fall by 46 percent in the West Bank and Gaza and by 10 percent in Israel by 2024. In most scenarios, the value of economic opportunities gained or lost by both parties is much larger than expected changes in direct costs. Unilateral withdrawal by Israel from the West Bank would impose large economic costs on Israelis unless the international community shoulders a substantial portion of the costs of relocating settlers. Intangible factors, such as each party's security and sovereignty aspirations, are critical considerations in understanding and resolving the impasse. Taking advantage of the economic opportunities of a two-state solution would require substantial investments from the public and private sectors of the international community and from both parties.--