Binghamton, NY -- Israel's Election is tomorrow

Kadima still has a sizeable lead in the polls at nearly twice the parliamentary seats as its nearest competitor (Labor). A Center-Left coalition of Kadima-Labor-Meretz is possible if the election plays out according to polls.

In today's Ha'Aretz opinion question, a question was raised as to how Olmert expects to pay for the unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank. And that really is a good question. The total cost of the move including reimbursement payments for lost property will likely total around $15 billion (or 60 billion shekels) to move the 70,000 settlers that are on the wrong side of the fence. Considering Israel's GDP is around $70 billion, that's a good chunk of change.

Even if the withdrawal wasn't unilateral, but was achieved through negotiations, the cost would still remain $15 billion.

The US will likely chip in around $5 billion in loans and another $2 billion in grants. The EU will probably chip in another $1 billion. So that leaves about $7 billion for Israel to come up with (of which Israel can probably afford about $3 billion). Where's the rest of the money going to come from? Here's a radical idea, how about the Arab World chips in? After all, they keep saying that they want a Palestinian state. Let them chip in for the costs. It can be run similarly to what happened in Gaza. Wealthy investors can buy up Israeli property in the West Bank. Israel can use that money to pay off the debt that will be incurred. Palestinians can move into the evacuated Israeli settlements (or torch them like they did in Gaza if that brings them more utility).

posted by Ari @ 11:43 AM Trackback Link