The Jordanians are furious with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over his continued refusal to accept international aid for the West Bank, Israel Hayom has learned.
Amman officials have accused Abbas of mishandling the economic crisis plaguing the Palestinian Authority, which is insolvency – a scenario that could potentially threaten the security and stability of the Hashemite Kingdom.
A senior Jordanian source told Israel Hayom that Abbas has again rejected a proposed plan to resolve the economic crisis in the Palestinian Authority, and has even barred Palestinian officials from meeting Israeli officials seeking to help Ramallah resolve the crisis.
Last week, newly appointed PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh warned the Palestinian Authority was on the brink of financial collapse over the Palestinian leader's refusal to accept tax revenue collected by Israel on Ramallah's behalf.
Abbas has refused to accept the funds in the wake of Israeli legislation deducting terrorists' salaries from these taxes.
The PA routinely spends hundreds of millions of dollars on payments to terrorists imprisoned in Israel and to the families of terrorists killed while carrying out attacks against Israel. In 2017, for example, Ramallah spent $358 million on payments to terrorists and their families. The figure represents 7% of the PA's total budget for 2017 and about 20% of the foreign aid it receives.
Once the legislation came into effect, Abbas declared that "even if we are bankrupt and there are only a few hundreds of millions [of shekels] left in the PA's coffers, we will continue to pay the salaries of the prisoners and the shahids [martyrs]."
The Palestinian Authority owes hundreds of millions of dollars to Israel Electric Corp and Mekorot national water company.
As a result of Abbas' refusal to accept the funds, Ramallah has had to cut public sector employees' wages by 50%. Shtayyeh has warned that the PA would soon have no choice but to bite into the wages paid to its security forces.
The latter is of particular concern for Jordan, as Amman is worried that any violent riots that erupt in the wake of economic chaos in the West Bank will not be directed solely at Israel and could spill over into the kingdom's territory.
According to senior Jordanian officials, Abbas has recently torpedoed an aid plan outline by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates to resolve the economic crisis in the PA.
The plan called for Riyadh, Manama and the Abu Dhabi to offset the amount that Israel deducts from the PA's taxes. It was further agreed that Israel would cease to offset the PA debts to its power and water companies and will form a joint Israeli-Palestinian committee to reach an agreed solution on these debts, but Abbas has ordered his functionaries to cease all negotiations on the matter.
