Palestinians pledge to cancel leaked ministerial raises

RAMALLAH - The cash-strapped Palestinian government has pledged to suspend a secret increase in ministerial salaries, the United Nations envoy on the Israel-Palestinian conflict said Thursday after reports of the raise sparked anger.

Documents leaked online earlier this week appeared to show that in 2017, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas had quietly agreed to increase monthly salaries of ministers from $3,000 to $5,000, as well as boosting the prime minister's salary from $4,000 to $6,000.

The revelation, by an anonymous online group known as "Against the Current", came as the Palestinian government faces desperate financial shortfalls and public employees struggle with cuts to their salaries.

Nickolay Mladenov, United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said Thursday he had spoken to recently installed Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who had agreed to cancel the raises.

"At a time when the #Palestinian people are struggling with economic hardship, when salaries were cut in #Gaza, such decisions defy logic and rightly anger people," Mladenov tweeted in reaction to the news of the salary increase.

"I spoke to @DrShtayyeh who committed to end this practice immediately and investigate."

Shtayyeh, who replaced predecessor Rami Hamdallah in April, was not immediately available for comment.

'Just honorary roles'

Palestinians commenting on Against the Current's Facebook page expressed outrage at the reported raises.

"All these ministers, what service do they provide to the people anyway? They're just honorary roles," wrote Subhi al-Hamdani.

Many Palestinians accuse officials in the Abbas government of using the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a "shop" for meeting their own needs and ignoring their responsibilities towards the Palestinian people.

Public anger has been exacerbated by the fact that the PA has been forced to halve the salaries of many employees in recent months due to an ongoing financial dispute with Israel.

The Zionist state has been deducting around $10 million a month from taxes it collects on behalf of the PA, money it says corresponds to payments to families of prisoners in Israeli jails -- including those who have carried out attacks.

Israel sees such payments as rewards for attacks on its citizens, but the Palestinians argue they are a vital lifeline for families who have often lost their main breadwinner.

But many Palestinians who have carried out attacks against Israelis are also seen by Palestinians as martyrs and freedom fighters against Israel's military occupation of Palestinian land. Palestinians also accuse Israel of arresting people, including children, arbitrarily.

Abbas has responded to the Israeli move by refusing to accept any of the tax revenues, which equate to more than half his government's budget.

Caring for the people

In an interview with the New York Times this week, Shtayyeh accused the US and Israeli governments of seeking to use the Palestinians' dire economic situation to pressure the PA into engaging with a controversial peace initiative devised by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The Kushner family foundation is involved in financing illegal Jewish settlement programs in occupied Palestinian territory and Kushner is seen by many Palestinians as being complicit in Israel's racist and colonial practices.

The Palestinian government has so far dismissed the Kushner initiative, accusing the Trump administration of bias towards Israel. The United States has cut hundreds of millions of dollars in desperately needed US aid to the Palestinians, has eliminated its contributions to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency and has halted financing to Palestinian-run hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem, as well as seeking to strip millions of Palestinians of their refugee status.

The US has also recognised the entirety of occupied Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as Israeli territory, in moves that violate international law and are seen as abandoning the pursuit of a two-state solution along 1967 armistice lines.

US officials have in turn sought to present themselves as being concerned for the welfare of ordinary Palestinians, accusing the PA of corruption and negligence.

US envoy Jason Greenblatt said the salary hikes for ministers showed the Palestinian leadership had sought to enrich themselves while creating a "self-imposed financial crisis."

"Where's the care/concern about the people?" he tweeted.