Jerusalem: A top Israeli official urged Arab
states on Tuesday to create a USD 10 billion "Marshall Plan" to
boost the Palestinian economy and support Middle East peace
talks.
"The Arab countries could do much more. First and
foremost is Saudi Arabia," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny
Ayalon told a meeting of foreign diplomats and journalists.
"In order to create hundreds of thousands of jobs --
which can easily be done -- we need a kind of a Marshall Plan
that will really build an industrial base and in order to do
that the Palestinians need foreign investments.
"If you look at Saudi Arabia, with the trillions upon
trillions of dollars that they have from exporting oil, they
certainly could allow some money to go to the Palestinian in a
way which will be conducive to the economy.
"My estimate, which is a very conservative one, is that
USD 10 billion now in Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank), in
the Palestinian economy, could do marvels, miracles."
Hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
repeatedly urged the international community to bolster the
Palestinian economy in the occupied West Bank as a means to
support the peace talks, which have been stalled for nearly
a year.
The United States launched the Marshall Plan in 1947 to
rebuild western Europe following World War II.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 20:40