The Palestinian Authority is planning to prevent its residents from working in the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria – if a legislative proposal submitted by its finance minister passes, which appears likely.
Hassan Abu Libda, responsible for the PA's finance ministry, is the sponsor of the bill. Palestinian Authority chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) is expected to sign the bill into law by the end of the current month.
There is no question that a number of outstanding questions arise with regards to the latest decision by the PA to forbid all PA residents to work in the Settlements.
The first question is, will they enforce this law and to what extent?
The second question is, what impact will this have on the PA economy and what impact on the economy of Yesha? The economy of Yesha is singled out because the first direct consequence of this law, if enforced, is the rise in building costs and housing prices in Yesha.
The State of Israel, and settlements in Yesha, have benefited greatly from the cheap Arab labor from Yehuda and Shomron. There are those who agree and disagree with this state of affairs. Regardless, the cheap labor also has caused the ideal of physically building up the Land of Isreal to be cast aside by Jews throughout Israel.
For a number of years, many Jews in Israel have tried to drum up support for employing Jewish laborers to build houses and buildings yet that effort has had a very slow growth thanks to the opportunity for much cheaper labor.
The answers to the above question remain to be answered, however one question still has yet to be asked - If such a law is enforeced and Arab labor dimishes in Yesha, will the growth for Jewish labor grow or will other cheap labor be brought instead to do the job?
