RAMALLAH – The World Bank accused Israel of squeezing the Palestinian economy by billions of dollars by restricting access to Area C, which comprises some 61 percent of West Bank territory but is under full Israeli civil and security control. “The key to Palestinian prosperity continues to lie in the removal of these restrictions with due regard for Israel's security,” the reads the report, titled “Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy.” The international organization said that the Palestinian GDP in the West Bank could increase by at least 35 percent, $3.4 billion annually, if Israel lifted its restrictions on Palestinian access and movement in Area C. The World Bank report refrains from addressing the politics of the matter, and even notes that it does not seek to predetermine the status of any territory that may be subject to negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. However, it does state that “the manner in which area C is currently administered virtually precludes Palestinian businesses from investing there.” “The densely populated urban areas of the West Bank usually command the most attention,” said Mariam Sherman, outgoing Country Director for the West Bank and Gaza. “But unleashing the potential from that ‘restricted land,' —access to which is currently constrained by layers of restrictions - and allowing Palestinians to put these resources to work, would provide whole new areas of economic activity and set the economy on the path to sustainable growth.” “Access to Area C will go a long way to solving Palestinian economic problems,” said Sherman. “The alternative is bleak. Without the ability to utilize the potential of Area C, the economic space will remain fragmented and stunted. Lifting multiple restrictions could transform the economy and substantially improve prospects for sustained growth,” she said. The World Bank report noted that Israel had put those restrictions in place out of security concerns, but did not offer any alternative suggestions. The report focused on an analysis of the problems and the steps needed to increase the Palestinian private sector productivity in agriculture, tourism, telecommunications, construction, quarrying and mining Dead Sea minerals. Agriculture and the Dead Sea offer Palestinians the most economic growth potential for the private sector, the report said. The bulk of farmland in Area C belongs to Palestinians, 326,400 dunams, compared with 187,000 dunams that are attached to Israeli settlements, the report said. But Palestinians lack the water necessary to irrigate the land and to maximize its use for agriculture production, the report said. Under the terms of the Oslo Accords, Palestinians are allocated 135.5 MCM annually, or 20 percent of estimated availability, instead of the needed 189 MCM, the report said. If they had accessibility and the resources to fully farm their land, Palestinians could add $704 million annually into their economy, the equivalent of 7 percent of their GDP in 2011, according to the report. Palestinians could also bring $918 million, 9 percent of their GDP in 2011, into their economy annually if they could harvest minerals such as potash and bromine from the Dead Sea as Israel and Jordan do, the report said.
