Palestinian economic development is vital for future peace

For those of us working on Palestinian economic development, or indeed any aspect of Palestinian life and collaboration with Israel, these are challenging times.

Sometimes though, we just have to stand up and speak out. When youth unemployment is above 50% and rising, you don’t need to be an expert to assess how that impacts every aspect of any sensible outcome.

It should not be controversial to openly acknowledge that a healthy and sustainable Palestinian economy is a necessary (but not sufficient) precondition for both Palestinian and Israeli security. That means someone needs to work on it, and those that do need supporting.

That has been the mission of the Portland Trust since it was set up over twenty years ago by a group of far-sighted philanthropists to bring the best of innovative and impactful international finance mechanisms to Palestinian economic growth. The legacy is strong: the West Bank’s only new city, its most successful tech ecosystem partnering scheme, a loan guarantee scheme channelling several  hundred million dollars to small and medium sized Palestinian firms and a flourishing portfolio of projects reaching deep into communities far from the labour market placing hundreds into well-paid employment. with ground-breaking employment support.

Then there’s Gaza. While the West Bank’s economy is close to collapse, Gaza’s very infrastructure has been fundamentally compromised by the war and so cannot meet the needs of the population. It needs to be rebuilt. The raw numbers are easily accessible, the best source being the EU, World Bank and UN’s Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment. For most of us though, that’s a complex and conflicted exploration. Nonetheless, over 2 million people today are trapped in an area smaller than the London Borough of Bromley, and neither party controlling their lives is meeting the commitments they made last year that brought about a ceasefire and the release of all the hostages.

What needs to happen ? There is a very strong foundation of serious, detailed and technically-credible plans to build on. Over 30 have been developed, by Palestinians and planners, internationals and Israelis, the well-meaning and well-qualified. Taken together, they cover every aspect of what a $70bn+ investment in reconstruction needs to deliver, from short-term humanitarian relief to medium-term recovery with water, shelter, sanitation and rubble-removal, to the longer-term economic development, infrastructure financing and environmental sustainability of reconstruction.

Some face towards Egypt, with Gaza as a stand-alone entity. That is not an acceptable concept to either Palestinians or the vast majority of the diplomatic world. Most plans recognise Gaza as part of a unified Palestinian territory with the West Bank, and a corridor between them. This was a feature of every iteration of the peace process of the last decades, with a route initialled in 2008 by the Israeli Prime Minister and Palestinian President.

Through this economic corridor flow goods, services, people and capital, linking not just the two poles of the Palestinian economy but enabling Gulf capital and Israeli and Palestinian ingenuity to become co-operative. These twin motors  would help power a reinvigorated region hard-wired into global activity through a deep-water port from which Asian and Gulf exports flow to Europe. Such a new Middle East may seem a fanciful dream today, but if you will it…

You can read an analysis and comparison of the various Gaza plans here.

The planners, engineers and economists have done their work well, now others need to as well.

Baron Frankal is CEO of the Portland Trust and a former member of the Board of Deputies. He has lived in Israel and the Persian Gulf and worked for the European Central Bank, CMS Cameron McKenna, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the Besht Tellers and the Diaspora Museum.