- 4 hours ago
- #wef26
A conversation with Mohammad Mustafa, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, at #WEF26 in Davos, Switzerland
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00:00Silence in the face of injustice and oppression is not neutrality, it is complicity.
00:15Second, stripping the immunity or sanctity from all acts of tragedy and disasters.
00:25Religious leaders must combat rhetoric that justifies those tragedies in the name of religion,
00:33especially exposing the exploitation of religious texts as tools to ignite unjust wars or deny legitimate rights.
00:44It is vital to remember that most unjust wars throughout human history and even today
00:51either have religious roots through the false interpretations of certain religious leaders
00:57or involve leaders who were instrumentalized to justify and incite them.
01:06There is no doubt that spiritual discourse exerts a powerful influence over believers,
01:12driving many to sacrifice themselves for it.
01:16Herein lies the importance and the danger, as anyone who has studied Asian and modern history knows this fact.
01:25To contribute effectively at various levels, we have been engaging with the United Nations
01:32and other organizations for 10 years as we continue to work with all parties.
01:38and we are still continue to work with all parties to address this issue through practical initiatives and programs
01:47that are constantly measured.
01:52We were delighted with the represents...
02:00Conversation with Dr. Mohamed Mustafa, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority.
02:07It's a very special session for us because it's building on a long-standing tradition of welcoming you, Mr. Prime Minister, in Davos.
02:19You've been now in your position for a while, but I also remember you've been coming in your previous capacity.
02:26So I just wanted to thank you for your long-standing engagement with the World Economic Forum.
02:32I'm Mirek Dushek, I'm Managing Director at the Forum, and I've had the pleasure in the past to also work with you as I used to work on the Middle East here at the Forum.
02:44So this brings a lot of great memories.
02:49We would conduct this as a conversation, and so I'll go straight in, if you don't mind.
02:58We are here on a day that President Trump is going to be here as well later today.
03:08He has previously announced the Board of Peace.
03:12And so how, from your standpoint, how do you feel about the Board of Peace?
03:17What does it mean also for your government?
03:20Well, as you know, thank you, Mirek, for having me at the World Economic Forum and for this special conversation.
03:27And I'd like also to commend the Forum for keeping the Palestinian issue also part of the discussion.
03:39Obviously, it's unfortunately, actually, that our people have to be in the news all this time, given the fact that we have been trying to get our own independence and statehood and self-determination for decades now.
03:54We will continue our cause, irrespective of what happened in Gaza or in the West Bank or in East Jerusalem and the Board of Peace and whatever happens.
04:02I think our goal remains a national independence and dignified life for our people.
04:09And I thank you for supporting this through the Forum.
04:15So the Board of Peace is part of, as you know, what has agreed in the Security Council Resolution 18-2803 and part of the plan that President Trump has presented to the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting was endorsed by many countries around the world.
04:36And obviously, as a state of Palestine, we also endorsed this plan.
04:42The plan starts with a ceasefire and ends with self-determination and statehood for the Palestinians.
04:51We want to look at this as a full package.
04:54As you know, last summer, last September, we were in New York.
05:02The General Assembly voted for endorsing the two-state solution implementation.
05:11The New York Declaration was approved by 142 countries.
05:16By now, 160 countries recognize Palestine as a state.
05:21So we want to build on this.
05:23And we know that Gaza has delayed this project.
05:28But we are determined to deal with the issue of Gaza in terms of dealing with the needs of our people, but also in a way that will ensure, at the end of the day, that Gaza, West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is unified as one state independent and sovereign for our people to live in and dignity and respect.
05:54So for us, first things first, for me, out of this plan, 20 points plan, the most important priority for us is what's happening for our people in Gaza today.
06:09And unfortunately, this issue, despite the fact that four months have passed since the ceasefire, people are still dying every single day.
06:23People are still dying.
06:24More than 450 people in Gaza have been killed since the ceasefire.
06:30So, yes, there is a ceasefire, but the ceasefire is not fully observed because of the Israeli military actions.
06:39But assuming that we have made progress on this, the next important thing is to open the borders to bring in as much humanitarian assistance as possible.
06:51It's improving, but we are not there yet.
06:54But I want to highlight another dimension of this that's critical to the livelihood of our people in Gaza, which is the temporary shelter.
07:06People will wait for a full reconstruction of Gaza that has been destroyed.
07:1285% of all infrastructure and houses were destroyed.
07:18People can wait until that is fixed.
07:21People can wait until universities are rebuilt and reopened.
07:25But people cannot wait until a temporary shelter, simple temporary shelter, to sit as a family together and start dealing with their lies.
07:41So my first plea to everybody is let's focus on what matters first.
07:46Let's open the borders, get Israel to bypass this doctrine called dual use usage, dual use, and allow as much temporary housing units as possible so that our people who are displaced can live in a decent fashion until we deal with the other issue.
08:10We deal with the other issues.
08:12So my message therefore is let's move fast on things that matters for our people.
08:20Temporary shelter is critical.
08:22After that we need to deal with the security issue, with the governance issue, with the reconstruction issue, economic recovery issue, and then hopefully reaching to reunification between Gaza and the West Bank.
08:36And then hopefully end all of this, by the end of the interim period of two years, end with one Palestinian state, with one governance system, one law, one security system, and finally hopefully Palestinians can live like everybody else in freedom and peace.
08:58Mr. Prime Minister, thank you.
09:01Help us understand how will that work, the link between your government and then there is a structure of the Board of Peace.
09:10How shall we understand it?
09:12Well, currently it seems that we have the Board of Peace as the first layer, the top layer.
09:19That's the one that's been talked about these days.
09:21And there is a layer below that which is called the Executive Council or the Executive Board.
09:28And then below that there is a Palestinian committee made of professionals, technocrats, experts in their fields who will help run things on the ground.
09:39So that's the structure of the Board of Peace.
09:43Now, our government, although we don't have full control in Gaza because of the current Israeli occupation and before that Hamas control, but we have many ministries and agencies working on the ground.
09:58So we're not like about to start a new thing.
10:01We want to work with the Board of Peace, with the Executive Board and with the committee to ensure that they do their part of things.
10:12But we also want to see our government institutions to continue to operate, work with the committee, provide support and enabling environments so that they can do what they can.
10:24But also prepare, as I said, for the reconstruction effort.
10:28We have been working very hard with UN institutions, with World Bank, with the European Union to be as ready as we can for the early recovery and reconstruction.
10:40We have detailed plans ready for early recovery work and for the reconstruction work.
10:46In addition to that, we will also start working with the governance aspect.
10:50And we already started the work with UNDP, with the government of Germany and the government of Norway, who offered their support to our effort to start immediately working on revamping the institutions in Gaza,
11:06unifying what we have in Gaza, improving its capacity, but also, as I said, reintegrating with the West Bank.
11:14So the priority for us is to work with, I guess the Board of Peace will be at a higher level, probably will not work so closely with them, but they probably will focus more on the fundraising aspects, as they call it.
11:28But below that, the executive board, which has a number of distinguished people, including Nikolai Meridinov, which you and I know very well from the past.
11:40Nikolai will be like the high representative on behalf of this executive board, and he will be working hopefully closely with the government and with the committee to ensure that the basic services are restored and the reconstruction efforts start.
11:56And how important are the neighboring countries, for example Egypt and Jordan, in helping this process, hopefully in a positive direction?
12:06Well, the Jordan and Egypt are not just contributors to this.
12:12They are key stakeholders in this process.
12:15They have always been there for us as Palestinians, and they continue to do so.
12:20And I want to take this opportunity to thank the leadership of Egypt and Jordan for their support.
12:26Of course, many others in the region, including Saudi Arabia and many other countries have been great supporters of our efforts.
12:35And I want to thank all of them, all countries in the region for their support.
12:40But their role in the next phase is also very critical.
12:44Things are quite complicated, as we all agree.
12:48And there are so many things that have to be done right so that we can hopefully get to the success that we all are aiming for.
12:57It's not straightforward to go and rebuild Gaza.
13:02It's not always going to be straightforward to secure Gaza.
13:06It's not going to be easy to get the funding necessary as long as the Israeli military is still on the door and can come back any time, close the border any time and decide what happens and what doesn't happen.
13:20So there are a lot of challenges neighboring countries are critical to ensure that one continuing support for the Palestinian people on the ground.
13:30Egypt is a neighboring country for next door for Gaza.
13:34It's the only open entry point today for Palestinians with the rest of the world.
13:40So the role of Egypt is extremely important.
13:44We're working with Egypt and Jordan also on other issues, of course, on the political front,
13:49but also on the security front.
13:51They have in the past trained our security forces and they will do more in the future so we can rebuild the security system in Gaza.
14:02So we are already working with them on that.
14:05We're already working with Egypt on the reconstruction effort and we're also working with Saudi Arabia on many other things, several other things,
14:14including the reform program and that's also critical for us.
14:20But also, as you know, Saudi Arabia along with France and many other partners have been working with us on the two state solution and its implementation via the New York declaration that was approved by the General Assembly last September.
14:40So the role of the countries in the region is very critical in security aspects, in the governance aspects, in the reforms aspect, but also in the political aspect.
14:50No, thank you. And if I can just maybe go a little more in history, you know that this organization was quite active in the 1990s in the follow up to the Oslo Accords here and also at some special meetings.
15:08There was an economic momentum as well at that time within the Oslo framework.
15:14Yes. And I know that I think you're asked that question a lot, but of course it's top of mind of people.
15:20How does this current situation relate to the Oslo Accords, to the two state solution?
15:26Are we still within within that framework or are we now departing to some other frameworks?
15:34Any thoughts on that?
15:36Yes, it's a very important point because actually that provides the legal framework for all should provide the legal framework for everything that we're doing now.
15:48This is an international treaty, Oslo agreement, whether we like all of it, we like part of it.
15:54Some people say it was supposed to have to have expired in five years and a state would have been established by now, etc.
16:03Now, despite all of that, the fact is that Oslo agreement is an international treaty that was signed between the PLO,
16:13Palestine Liberation Organization, and the Israeli government, signed at the White House.
16:20The U.S. was a witness to this and the documents were sent to the United Nations after that became an international treaty.
16:27So, what governs the relationship between us and Israel until this moment is actually this treaty, this agreement.
16:35We know that it should have been, the work should have been completed by now.
16:40The permanent solution of two state solutions should have been negotiated but also implemented.
16:47That didn't happen yet, but we still believe that until such thing, until we implement the two state solution fully,
16:55the Oslo agreement is the legal framework that governs the relations.
17:00Now, in this Oslo agreement, among other things, it talks about Gaza and the West Bank part of one system, one governance system.
17:13It's Palestinian authority, therefore, has jurisdiction and sovereignty on not only Gaza, but not only West Bank, but also Gaza.
17:20And according to the Oslo agreement, Israel should have withdrawn by now from all of the West Bank, most of the West Bank and also Gaza.
17:33And they did withdraw, as you know, in 2005.
17:36They came back after the 2023 war with Hamas.
17:42And obviously, we want to see an end to all of this.
17:45And we want to see Israel also respecting the Oslo agreement, withdrawing from Gaza and allowing Palestinian authority based on the Oslo agreement to come back and govern Gaza as well.
17:57But since you mentioned the Oslo agreement, another important aspect of the Oslo agreement is also the economic relations that are established between Palestinian authority and Israel.
18:12Israel. And based on the interim arrangement, the Oslo agreement, which should have ended five years after it was signed.
18:19There was an agreement on so many important things to do with trade, to do with the financial system, the monetary system, the taxes, how they are collected and how they are paid, etc.
18:31Unfortunately, like almost everything else, the security on the withdrawal from our land, the Israelis did not respect also the economic part of the treaty.
18:49We are now paying a very heavy price, not only in Gaza, not only in terms of people being killed every day, but also in terms of actions on the ground in the West Bank as well,
19:04where at least they cannot claim that there is anybody is trying to overtake anybody.
19:16We denounce violence. We said clearly that we want to achieve our goal through peaceful means.
19:23Despite all of this, the Israeli government did not respect the economic part of the Oslo agreement, including, for example,
19:32I would like to mention the fact that Israel today withholds $4 billion for my government's money.
19:40Money they collect on our behalf because they control the borders, tax revenues, import duties.
19:46They are supposed, according to the agreement, to pay it monthly to us for a fee. They do a collection fee.
19:53For the last eight months, they have sent zero money from these funds. As a result, our ability to govern, our ability to provide basic services to our people have been undermined.
20:14The banking system is going through a lot of challenges and difficulties because of, again, their lack of respect to the treaty,
20:22and the business-like relationship that our banks established with Israeli banks.
20:28We do a lot of trade with Israel. We do a lot of business with Israeli companies and banks.
20:33Despite of that, as I said, the Israeli side did not respect this aspect of the treaty as well.
20:39So, while the Oslo agreement is not perfect, it was meant to be an interim arrangement for five years,
20:46but we still believe that it provides the minimum requirements for a reasonable relationship that we all should respect,
20:55continue to respect until we have a permanent solution, until we have a two-state solution.
21:01Thank you. We'll have, I think, tomorrow, President Herzog from Israel here.
21:08You mentioned, we talked about the Oslo Accords, and I know from my experience, of course, some of the issues you mentioned.
21:16But help us understand, is there any dialogue whatsoever, for example, between Palestinian officials and Israeli officials?
21:25What does it, if so, what does it actually look like?
21:28There have been very limited dialogue, especially after October 7th.
21:37The Israeli decided to stop all kind of relationship and took several actions, including issues to do with the financial aspects that I mentioned earlier.
21:47They have also, among other things, sent back about 200,000 workers who used to work in Israeli companies in the past,
21:56and provide very important income for their families in the West Bank.
22:00They've also stopped these people from going to work, and basically made an escalation of activities in terms of settlement and settler terrorism and violence.
22:16They have spread many checkpoints throughout the West Bank.
22:23According to the UN estimates, the number is about perhaps about 1,000 checkpoints within the West Bank to control movement within the West Bank, making doing business extremely difficult.
22:35So they are doing equally challenging and dangerous to that they are doing also in Gaza.
22:42So in Gaza, we have seen the planes, we have seen the military actions on the ground.
22:47In the West Bank, they are doing it in a different way.
22:50No dialogue, stopping our money, stopping our workers, leaving, basically giving free hand for the settlers.
23:00They invaded our refugee camps in the West Bank, especially in Jenin and Turkarim, displaced our people from their homes, destroyed many homes.
23:10According to the United Nations, more than 40,000 people in these three refugee camps in Jenin and the West Bank have been displaced now for almost a year without being back to their homes.
23:22Their kids without schools, we have to find temporary shelter for them in the West Bank.
23:27But the West Bank also has been going through a lot of difficulties.
23:32So the people, the world has probably seen a lot of images coming out of Gaza, but much less scenes from the West Bank.
23:42But believe me, American, you know the place very well, it's very sad to see the West Bank got to the point where people are barely making it.
23:54So we, again, hope that the international effort on Gaza is very important and badly needed, but we also need equal attention to what's happening in the West Bank.
24:09You mentioned earlier some of the reforms that you're making.
24:13Yes.
24:14And then if through previous dialogues that are public, for example, with some of the Israeli officials, they would say that they would point to the need for reforms or others.
24:29Help us understand what your priorities are on the reform agenda, and particularly on the economic front, but of course there is also the security dimension.
24:38So we've heard that, of course, efforts should be made, some would say, on the security dimension in terms of reform.
24:47Sure.
24:48Look, I mean, in terms of reform, you know, we believe that proper institutions, well-functioning institutions, transparent institutions is the best thing you can have for any country.
24:59And in our case, it's even more important because the challenge, the kind of challenges we have, we cannot deal with it.
25:06We cannot continue to sustain our efforts without proper institutions.
25:12So we take the issue of reforms at heart.
25:15We believe it's the right thing to do.
25:17We need to continue to work on it.
25:19And from day one, when I assumed office, we formed a special ministerial committee to develop a detailed program for reforms.
25:28When we consulted with our partners in the EU, actually also with the previous U.S. administration when we started this at the time of the Biden administration,
25:39but we also with the World Bank and, of course, with the EU.
25:42So we have developed since then a very detailed reform program.
25:46We developed a detailed matrix under four major pillars to do with financial management and sustainability as a first pillar,
25:55second, institutions, reform, consolidation, transparency, anti-corruption, et cetera,
26:02and third, law and order, justice system, et cetera, and fourth, basic services and the need to modernize the provision of services to the people,
26:12make it more transparent, make it easier, less costly, et cetera.
26:17So a very comprehensive program.
26:19Under these four pillars, we have identified a matrix of 60 different items.
26:24And we have put a timetable for this.
26:28And we are producing by annual reports on the progress we made.
26:37Two weeks ago, we have produced the report covering the period, the last second half of 25.
26:44And we shared this with our partners, especially with the EU and the World Bank.
26:49And I'm pleased to tell you that more than half of the reform items, more than half, have been completed 100 percent.
26:57And we are actually ahead of schedule in terms of implementing this reform agenda.
27:02I'm pleased to tell you that all international partners recognize this progress we are making on the reforms.
27:09And we hope that this reform will be empowered and supported.
27:14Because, let's face it, you cannot do reform under these conditions normally.
27:21We are really doing extra effort to show people that we are serious about this.
27:27And we also want to take away any excuses from anyone who wants to say,
27:32you will not get your national independence until you reform this or that.
27:36So we want to take away all these excuses, but we also want to strengthen our institutions.
27:41So I want to tell you that reforms are important.
27:46Reforms are good for us.
27:48We are committed to continue to implement our reform agenda.
27:53But we also expect Israel to do its part.
27:56Because without proper enabling, let's put it this way, these efforts will go nowhere.
28:05It's hard to reform when your employees do not get paid, because the Israeli withholding the money.
28:13You cannot reform when people cannot move to go to their work,
28:17because there's 1,000 checkpoints spread around the West Bank.
28:20You cannot do reform when basically all the banking system is being subjected to a very systemic effort
28:34to make it collapse.
28:36This is a banking system that we build the hard way under the supervision of international organizations.
28:44The Palestinian monetary authorities are very good institutions regulating the banking system.
28:50The IMF visit and check on what we have.
28:55We have an anti-money laundering law that we're very proud of.
28:59We work very closely with the U.S. Treasury.
29:02We work very closely with the U.K. Treasury.
29:05We are open to anyone who wants to look at our systems
29:09and make sure that we are implementing the international best practice
29:14when it comes to transparency and anti-corruption and the banking system.
29:20So we will continue with reforms.
29:23But we also want the international community to help us with Israel doing their part.
29:30And I would like to, I know we are almost out of time, but just to finish with the economy,
29:35because you are not only the Prime Minister but also someone who has really been a thought leader
29:43and you have been playing such a pivotal role in the Palestinian economy over the years.
29:48Is this the biggest crisis, economic crisis, if I take, for example, the West Bank economy only?
29:56Is it the biggest economic crisis we've seen in a while?
29:59It is, it is, by far.
30:01During the last two years since the war in Gaza, the economy, according to the World Bank statistics,
30:09the economy has been, have contracted by 30 percent.
30:13So GDP has contracted by 30 percent.
30:16It's never before.
30:19Second, unemployment was about 15 percent in the West Bank before the war.
30:26In the West Bank, this is about 34 percent today.
30:30Gaza, 85 percent unemployment.
30:32So the average Palestinian unemployment rate now is 51 percent.
30:40Obviously, the budget deficit has increased because the fact that Israel is withholding our money.
30:47Our private sector, which I would like to salute and convey every possible appreciation and gratitude
30:55for their resilience and their hard work and commitment to their country,
31:02have also been a strong partner in all of this, but also continue to play a role,
31:07but they also have been affected by all of this.
31:09So every aspect of our lives have been affected by this.
31:13But I want to assure you, America and everybody else, that our people is resilient,
31:18and our people will get out of this strong.
31:21It's painful to go through all of this.
31:25It's been extremely difficult.
31:27But the good news is that, as I said, our people is very resilient, very determined,
31:32and thank God we still have good friends around the world that could believe in international law,
31:39believe in fairness, believe in justice, believe in dignity,
31:43and we're sure we will get there.
31:46So I will want to end, if I may also to say a big thank you to all our partners,
31:56but most importantly for our people, especially for our people in Gaza.
32:02Mr. Prime Minister, thank you so much for sharing your perspectives here at such a pivotal time,
32:09and I really hope that the current efforts can really bring us to peace as rapidly as possible.
32:17Thank you so much.
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