Eid al-Adha is one of the two major holidays in Islam, and, by extension, among Palestinians, 99 percent of whom are Muslim. As such, it is traditionally considered one of the peak consumer periods of the year, with Palestinians typically spending the days beforehand shopping, preparing large family meals and buying gifts for relatives.

This year, however, the holiday — which runs from Wednesday through Saturday — arrived in the midst of a salary crisis that has developed against the backdrop of a broader economic downturn in the West Bank since October 7, 2023.

Immediately after the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, Israel announced a near-total ban on Palestinian workers entering Israel. Before the war, around 100,000 Palestinians from the West Bank entered Israel each month for work. That number has dropped to around 6,000.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the decline erased 84% of Palestinians’ income from work in Israel, compared to 2022. The fall in income also led to a 34% drop in imports of goods and services and a 16% drop in exports, as less money circulated throughout the Palestinian economy overall.

The broader economic losses were compounded over the past year by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s decision to withhold significant portions of the Palestinian Authority’s clearance revenues — taxes collected by Israel on the PA’s behalf under the Oslo Accords.

Those revenues amount to hundreds of millions of shekels each month and make up roughly 60% of the Palestinian Authority’s budget.

The Palestinian Authority has struggled with budgetary problems for years, amid low economic productivity and longstanding allegations of corruption and waste. Since 2021, it has paid delayed and partial salaries to roughly 100,000 public sector employees in the West Bank, including members of the Palestinian security forces.

Still, a new low was reached in the most recent salary payment: The wages paid in April for the month of January (the PA is routinely months behind) amounted to no more than NIS 2,000 ($700) per employee, despite the fact that some senior officials formally earn salaries of up to NIS 10,000 a month, not including additional benefits.

In recent years, the PA has generally paid its employees either NIS 2,000 or between 50% and 70% of salaries — whichever sum was higher.

On May 21, the Palestinian Finance Ministry promised that the next salaries would be paid during this week, just ahead of the holiday, apparently in an attempt to provide temporary relief to employees. As of this writing, however, no payments had been made.

Merchants interviewed by Palestinian media in recent days said “there is a holiday, but there is no holiday atmosphere” in the West Bank.

One merchant told a Palestinian television channel: “The markets are empty, people are exhausted, there is no buying and no selling. The PA clerks have no money, and there are no outsiders coming into the city to shop.”

Another added: “People are trying to create joy, to achieve a moment of happiness, but the economic situation is severely affecting people’s mental state.”

‘Decline alongside stability’

Dr. Sameh al-Atout, an economics expert at An-Najah National University, told The Times of Israel that, relatively speaking, the city of Nablus and its surrounding area are in better condition........

© The Times of Israel