Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – The Palestinian Authority Sunday asked Israel to review of the Paris Economic Agreement – the Paris Protocol – that regulates the economic relations between two sides, a Palestinian official said. Hussein Al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister, said that he had been asked by President Mahmoud Abbas to submit an official letter to this effect to his Israeli counterparts to review the agreement and “make changes to it as soon as possible." The Palestinian minister said that “the PA was waiting the Israeli reply." “If Israel agreed in principle to reconsider the agreement, a special committee of experts and negotiators would be assigned the job of rewriting its articles," Al-Sheikh said. “The agreement is not fair and there are restrictions on Palestinians that prevent our economy from growing and prospering. The agreement does not give us the opportunity to develop our economy and our country," Al-Sheikh said. Amos Gilad, the Israeli Defense Ministry's policy director, said that Israel would have to carefully weigh the request. He warned in an interview with Israel Radio that reexamining any agreement could lead to the unraveling of others. The Paris Protocol, part of the Oslo Accords which was signed in April 1994 between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel. It established that there was no commercial border between Israel and the PA and set up a joint customs system controlled by Israel that collects taxes for the Palestinians. The agreement imposes severe restrictions on trade between the Palestinians and the rest of the world and requires the Palestinians to depend on Israeli economic bodies. Mohammed Ishtayyeh, a Palestinian negotiator and member of Fatah's Central Committee, said recently that the “reopening" of the Paris Protocol should not be interpreted as a renewal of peace talks with Israel. He stressed that the move aims at “stopping Israel stealing from us." Samir Hulileh, Chief Executive Officer of Palestine Development and Investment Company and a former Cabinet Secretary General, said that the PA at the time objected to the agreement, preferring that economic relations with Israel be arranged as part of a free trade zone. Hulileh added that the PA only signed the agreement after Israel promised to allow Palestinians to continue working in Israel. He added that the work force suffered heavily after the signing of the agreement. Hulileh said the average number of workers in Israel decreased from 120,000-130,000 to a maximum of 35,000-40,000. The official said the exports to Israel or through Israel have dropped during the process as a result of the Israeli siege on the Palestinian territories. Under the Oslo Accords, the Israeli government administers tax and customs duty payments on behalf of the PA. Israel transfers monthly some 300 million Israeli shekels ($85 million) it collects on behalf of the PA on goods imported by Palestinians and destined to the Palestinian territories. The PA is suffering a severe cash shortage and is having a hard time paying its some 154,000 civil and military employees. Palestinian officials said they would not be able to meet their commitments, including paying salaries, without the funds. For months, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has warned of financial woes due to a chronic shortfall in financial support pledged by donors, especially Arab countries. The Palestinian leadership believes that the current crisis is a reflection of a political crisis related to increasing the pressure on the Palestinians to agree to resume the stalling peace process. Disputes over settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were the major reason for suspending the direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians since September 2010. The Palestinians have said they will not return to negotiations without a new Israeli freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They also want Israel to accept the principle of the two-state solution based on 1967 borders and to release the release of 123 Palestinians who were arrested before the Oslo Accords in 1993.
