Hady Amr disembarks his plane after landing in Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport
Hady Amr disembarks his plane after landing in Israel’s Ben Gurion AirportMatty Stern / U.S. Embassy Jerusalem

US envoy Hady Amr warned Israeli officials during his talks in Jerusalem this week that the Palestinian Authority is facing dangerous economic and political crises, Axios’ Barak Ravid reported on Thursday, citing three Israeli officials.

Amr, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, arrived in the region on Sunday, meeting with PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ aides and senior government officials in Ramallah before meeting Israeli officials in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Israeli officials who attended the meetings with Amr or were briefed on it said that he stressed that he came back from Ramallah very concerned.

“I have never seen the Palestinian Authority in a worse situation," Amr said, according to Israeli officials quoted by Axios.

The Israeli officials added that Amr told them that the combination of the financial and political crises puts the Palestinian Authority in a very precarious situation.

“It is like a dry forest waiting to catch on fire," he said, according to sources.

The State Department declined to comment.

Amr also proposed several measures the Israeli government can take to help the Palestinian economy and the Palestinian Authority’s budget.

A source familiar with Amr’s talks told Ravid that he stressed to both Palestinian Arab and Israeli officials that he isn’t going to press them or beg for them to take steps and they will have to work it out themselves. “If you want the US to help, we will be happy to do it," he reportedly said.

The PA has repeatedly asked for foreign donations in recent years, claiming it is on the verge of collapse due to a worsening financial crisis.

At the same time, it continues to spend six percent of the PA’s annual budget to pay $4.5 million a month to jailed terrorists and another $6.5 million to their families.

Amr’s visit to the region came as the Biden administration attempts to restore ties with the PA.

The PA had been boycotting the US since 2017, in protest of then-President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the relocation of the US embassy in Israel to the city.