Palestinian Arab workers still benefit significantly by being employed within Israel and in the Jewish towns in the Judea and Samaria, according to an Arab professor of economics at An-Najah University, Palestinian Media Watch reported.
Economics Faculty Director Dr. Bakri Shtayyeh told PA TV that Palestinian Arab income has risen over the last 15 years by only two thirds of the price increases, causing a major drop in buying power for Palestinian Arabs. However for Palestinian Arabs employed in Israel and in the “settlements,” income has risen at more than twice the rate of price increases. This means the buying power for Palestinian Arabs employed by Israelis has more than doubled.
The following is from the text of the interview:
An-Najah National University Economics Faculty Director Dr. Bakri Shtayyeh: “If we take the period between 2004 and 2019 – 15 years, the past 15 years – we see that the rate of prices has gone up for us in Palestine by 45%... Let’s talk now about the sectors. The sector of [Palestinian] workers in the private sector, the sector of laborers – their income went up by 30%, while the prices went up by 45%; therefore their buying power decreased. [As for] the sector of [Palestinian] workers in Israel and the settlements, their income went up by 95%, while the increase in prices was 45%. Therefore their buying power increased very greatly. The gap is clear, and the gap between the two sectors is widening. [As for] the layer of [Palestinian] public employees in the two sectors – civilian or military – their salaries went up by an average of 65%. In other words, more than the percent of the increase in prices.”