Online Posts Document PA Corruption
JERUSALEM, Israel -- Documents linked to the Palestinian Authority and posted online show evidence of widespread corruption among senior government officials, the Associated Press reports.
The documents provide what the AP describes as "a rare glimpse into the wheeling and dealing of the Palestinian government, long bogged down by rivalries."
The newest evidence is reminiscent of former PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, whose personal wealth was estimated in the billions when he died in 2004.
The report quotes Azmi Shoabi, head of Aman, a branch of Transparency International, who said there are "big black holes" in the P.A.'s financial and administrative systems. Public departments, he said, have become private kingdoms for some P.A. officials.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration intervened on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, filing a "statement of interest" in the U.S. District Court of Manhattan against a decision awarding $218.5 million to families of Americans killed in Palestinian terror attacks.
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinkden wrote, "Senior U.S. officials have made clear to other governments that if the P.A. were to collapse, we would be faced with a crisis that would not only impact the security of Israelis and Palestinians, but would potentially have ripple effects elsewhere in the region."
The Palestinian Authority's legal counsel asked District Judge George Daniels to waive the bond requirement, claiming the government is effectively insolvent.
But attorneys for the plaintiff said if the P.A. has enough money to subsidize convicted terrorists, it has enough to make payments to victims of Palestinian terrorism.
Kent Yalowitz, an attorney for the plaintiff, said it was disappointing "the State Department failed to take any stand against the PLO and PA's policy of putting convicted terrorists on their payroll as soon as they are jailed."
"If the P.A. has enough money to pay convicted terrorists, it has enough to pay the judgment in this case," he said.
The Palestinian Authority receives one of the highest amounts of international aide in the world, with the U.S. providing roughly $400 million annually.
According to the Congressional Research Service, successive U.S. administrations have committed about $5 billion to the Palestinians since the mid-1990s. About 6 percent of those funds go to prisoners' salaries.
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Israel Hayom contributed to this report.
