Damn it, Let Go!

Quote:

Yesterday the Israel Cabinet decided to blackmail the Palestinian Authority. After months of trying to negotiate a deal so that the common customs envelope between Palestine and Israel, which has been in force since the signing of the Paris Protocol in 1995, can remain in force after the disengagement, the Israeli Cabinet pulled a rabbit out the its hat in the form of a “deal”. If the Palestinians agree to move the border to the Kerem Shalom triangle between Israel, Gaza and Egypt, then Israel will agree to retain the common customs envelope. Sounds a bit complicated – not so – here’s what it’s really about... Israel’s insistence to move the border has only one real explanation – continued control. Israel cannot imagine having a relationship with the Palestinians without it being based on Israeli control over Palestinians. Israel is leaving Gaza but Gaza is not leaving Israel. The Palestinians have had many reservations over the years regarding the common customs envelope. The leading Palestinian economists, businessmen and politicians have many times advocated ending the Paris Protocol and moving into another form of trade regime. They said that there is no reason to keep adhering to system which has not provided them with the trade benefits and at best has only supplied an efficient system of revenue collection and transfer. This is not a small matter, but when faced with all of the non-tariff barriers that Israel has established since Paris and the reality that the Palestinians are not really partners in determining common trade policies, as is the norm in custom unions, why not try something new?