The Paris Protocol and the Economic Implications for the Palestinians 1994-2000

Because Molad is an Israeli think-tank focused on Israeli issues the majority of our website’s of content is in Hebrew. As we grow, more content will become available in English. Below is a short summary of Molad's Paris Project to date:

As the 20th anniversary of the Oslo Accords approaches, Molad takes a new look at the agreement and examines them with an eye to the future. In light of Israel's difficult economic situation both when it comes to the Palestinian Authority and the world, Molad has created what it calls "Project Paris" to articulate what the Oslo Accord's economic Annex called for and what it means today. In the first stage of the project we interviewed former Finance Minister Avraham Shochat who signed the agreement from the Israeli side. Shochat focused on how the agreement was designed; it was written in the spirit of Israeli interests and did not allow for an independent Palestinian economy. He noted that, at the time, the Palestinians understood the implications of such economic restraint and accepted the Protocol as a solution. He concluded that the agreement functioned well then and continues to do its job today.

In this second stage of the project Col. Res. Dr. Ephraim Lavie, a specialist who served in senior positions of various bodies that managed Israeli security vis-à-vis the Palestinians during the Oslo years, analyzes the Protocol. His conclusion is that Oslo imposed an economic framework on precisely those Palestinians most interested in an independent economy, and that the framework contributed to a variety of economic distortions, some of which Palestinians still suffer from today. 

To read the analysis in Hebrew, click here. To read more about Molad click here.

To read Part One in Hebrew, click here.