Arguing “work and quality of life will bring peace and security,” Likud lawmaker, former Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat calls to establish 12 industrial areas in Area C to boost Israeli-Palestinian economic cooperation.
Read the full article at israelhayom.com
Likud lawmaker and former Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has a plan of his own for improving the economic situation in Judea and Samaria.
Unlike the model offered by US President Donald Trump ahead of the economic summit in Bahrain, which pertains to Areas A and B, Barkat’s plan focuses on Area C, which is under Israeli control and comprises some 60% of the territory in Judea and Samaria, and is home to over 400,000 Israelis.
According to Barkat’s plan, mutual Arab-Israel economic prosperity will be achieved as a result of cooperation between the two communities. Barkat reached this conclusion upon collaborating with Professor Michael Porter, an international expert on business management at Harvard University and the author of “The Competitive Advantage of Nations.”
After holding a few tours of Judea and Samaria, and learning about the joint Israeli-Palestinian industrial areas there, the two concluded that 12 industrial areas should be established that will employ over 200,000 Palestinians. Today, some 30,000 Palestinians are employed in Area C, around half of them in industrial areas and the remainder in settlements.
Alongside the places that are already in the planning and construction phases, the two propose building four new industrial areas and logistical centers in northern Samaria, Maaleh Adumim and the Palestinian village of Tarqumiyah in the southern Hebron hills, so that the area can be easily accessible for Israelis as well as Palestinians.
The plan also calls for the establishment of a giant industrial park in Judea and Samaria that will employ some 100,000 people, as well as three additional parks that, together, will employ some 168,000 people.
