Leaked documents showing attempts by Palestinian Authority officials to misuse public funds have caused a furor in Palestinian society by “highlighting the corruption and mismanagement critics say remains rampant in the Palestinian government,” the Associated Press reported today.
The furor over the documents comes as the Palestinian economy is stagnating and Palestinians grow increasingly displeased with government services. Palestinian Authority officials have defended their record on stamping out corruption, saying they’ve recovered millions of dollars in misspent funds.
A senior Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t allowed to discuss the leak, confirmed the documents’ authenticity to The Associated Press. They have offered a rare glimpse into the wheeling and dealing of the Palestinian government, long bogged down by rivalries. …
Outrage over the documents quickly spread on social media, where Palestinians challenged everything from their leadership’s finances to its political legitimacy in the face of repeatedly delayed elections, last held in 2005.
One of the documents reveals that a Palestinian official asked for $4 million from Bahrain to build an upscale housing development in Ramallah for top PA officials. The other document is an official request from Nazmi Muhanna, general director of the Palestinian Crossing and Borders Authority, for $15,000 from the government to cover his daughter’s schooling and medical expenses. The PA said that it did not grant the request.
Azmi Shoabi, who is affiliated with the corruption watchdog group Transparency International, told the AP that there are “black holes” in the governance of PA institutions. According to Shoabi, PA institutions fail to file financial reports properly or on time, and oversee more than 20 government funds run by executives with excessive salaries.
Jonathan Schanzer, the vice president of research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, observed in We Really Need To Talk About Corruption, an article written for the December 2013 issue of The Tower Magazine, that “the failure to address these issues [of official corruption] will inevitably give rise to the same wave of frustration that elected Hamas.” Similarly, in Terrorists & Kleptocrats: How Corruption is Eating the Palestinians Alive, which was published in the June 2014 issue of The Tower Magazine, Aaron Menenberg wrote:
The gap between the Palestinian people and their leadership is nothing less than catastrophic, and it will not be closed unless donors change the way they support the Palestinian Authority. A good first step would be to tie aid to greater PA transparency and responsibility to the Palestinian people. Donors should also insist on fiscal and legal reforms, as well as the establishment of robust and independent institutions—judiciary and education included. These are all necessary ingredients for economic growth and nation-building. Unfortunately, so long as we and other donors refuse to take these steps, we will remain part of the problem, not part of the solution.
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