The "Reforms document" submitted by the Palestinian Authority to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee representing donor countries does not include a plan to reduce incitement against Israel, according to a copy of the document obtained by Israel Hayom.
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Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who attended the AHLC's biannual session last week in Brussels, didn't come empty-handed. The 40-page "Reforms Proposal" he presented to the AHLC consists of a comprehensive reform plan for the PA to implement in various fields.
Founded in 1993, the 15-member AHLC, a UN body, serves as the principal policy-level coordination mechanism for development assistance to the Palestinian people. Its primary mission is "to promote dialogue between donors, the Palestinian Authority, and the Government of Israel."
AHLC members are categorized into seven groups: the Arab nations, the European Union, the United States, Japan, international institutions, European countries, and other nations. Current members include the US, EU, United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Russia, Norway, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the PA, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Tunisia.
US and Europe are applying pressure
The Palestinians were forced to draft the document. PA President Mahmoud Abbas was put under considerable pressure to implement institutional, legal, and societal reforms, which also include measures to curb public corruption. The Europeans pushed the Palestinians to formulate a comprehensive plan, and the Americans, too, applied additional pressure once the Biden administration entered the White House.
The Palestinian need to produce such a document intensified after financial aid from Europe was delayed. Some European Union countries, spearheaded by the Hungarian representative, demanded last year that the Palestinians erase anti-Israeli content from their school textbooks, making it a precondition for the transfer of money to the PA.
The postponed aid transfer, along with declining external donor funds to PA coffers, exacerbated the economic situation in the areas under the PA's control in Judea and Samaria. In Ramallah, PA officials concluded that they can no longer evade the international community's demands as easily as before, and must present steps to donor countries that show a willingness to implement the aforementioned reforms.
However, as stated, the PA's reform plan presented by Shtayyeh, which was drafted at the behest of Abbas, does not indicate a willingness to implement fundamental changes as they pertain to reducing incitement against Israel – but rather the opposite. The document includes a call to safeguard Palestinian culture and the Palestinian national narrative against attempts by the "Israeli occupation authorities to distort information and steal the Palestinians' folklore and heritage."
Born of desperation
"A battle is raging over the dominant narrative of the conflict. The goal needs to be to ensure the Palestinian narrative and promote it. Ties with international organizations must be built to challenge Israeli falsification of historical Palestinian facts," the document states. "Our embassies across the globe and media apparatuses must stand against the efforts to falsify the Palestinian narrative. Therefore the government will bolster its media presence, among other things, in line with the recent initiative to launch a satellite television station for youngsters in addition to the existing official television station."
The leadership in Ramallah desperately needs money and is presenting an ambitious reform plan to the world. As stated, not only does it fail to address incitement against Israel, but also includes accusations meant to justify continued Palestinian attacks.
With that, however, some PA leaders in Ramallah have recently begun realizing that international aid money has dried up because of anti-Israel incitement and salary payments to terrorists and that examining a change of policies in this regard is warranted.
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