Statement by Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon at the UNGA
ministerial meeting in New York of the Ad Hoc Liaison
Committee.
I am sincerely grateful to Norway for bringing us together and to
the Government of Israel and Palestinian Authority for their
participation.
Let me begin by expressing our deep concern over the grave
economic situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
If we are to achieve peace and stability in the region, it is of
course vital that the Palestinian Authority and UNWRA are on a
stable financial footing.
The United Kingdom is committed to supporting this.
We will continue to work directly with both parties to help boost
economic development, trade and investment.
This includes offering technical assistance to the Palestinian
Authority and supporting Palestinian companies to boost exports,
among other things.
We were pleased to hear about the success of the E-VAT pilot and
welcome Israel’s commitment to rolling out the system to all
Israeli businesses.
As we know, this has the potential to raise more than $100
million per year for the Palestinian Authority.
It is a clear signal of the value of cooperation between the
parties and the donor community.
We also welcome the Government of Israel’s efforts to enable
electronic payments to Palestinians working in Israel.
And we are glad to see the positive steps taken by the
Palestinian Authority, as outlined by Finance Minister Bishara,
to reduce the public sector wage bill.
Madame Chair,
While we welcome commitments made by the parties and the spirit
of cooperation they bring today, progress has not been as fast as
we would have liked.
We need much quicker progress on fiscal reforms, and efforts to
reduce barriers to trade and investment in the West Bank, if we
stand any hope of reviving economic growth in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories.
We call on the Government of Israel to undertake reforms to the
clearance revenue mechanism and to renew efforts to tackle the
restrictions and costs facing Palestinian businesses.
We would also like Israel to take a decision on the handling fee
on Palestinian Authority fuel purchases – which is
disproportionate, in our view.
We urge the Palestinian Authority to bolster work with partners,
including the International Monetary Fund, on the reforms
necessary to address the fiscal crisis and build a more stable
future.
We must also retain focus on the humanitarian situation in Gaza
and the need for economic recovery and reconstruction.
Only last month, we saw yet another escalation of violence on the
strip.
We welcome the increase in permits for Gazans to work in Israel
but unemployment remains unacceptably high.
We urge Israel to continue increasing work permits and reducing
restrictions in order to create more jobs.
Madame Chair,
There is no hope of making progress on these issues without
ministerial level engagement and dialogue, and we would like to
see this stepped up.
We welcome the parties’ commitments to re-establishing the Joint
Economic Committee as the key body for decision-making, and call
for this meeting to take place urgently.
The UK will do all we can to support the parties to work together
to address challenges and strengthen Palestinian Authority
institutions for the future.
Madame Chair,
While we have rightly focussed on the economic situation today, I
must also address the bigger picture. We are gravely concerned
about the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank and
the risk of instability.
The UK calls on both parties to refrain from taking actions that
undermine the prospect for peace.
This includes all unilateral and provocative acts, and breaches
of international law.
These take us further from a negotiated two-state solution, and
the long-term peace and stability that Israelis and Palestinians
so deserve.
The UK will do all we can to support progress towards that goal.
