West 'has to prevent collapse' of PA

James Wolfensohn, the international envoy to the Middle East, has resigned and issued a warning of the dangers ahead if the West cuts everything but humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Wolfensohn, a former head of the World Bank, also cautioned that the UN, charities and humanitarian organizations will not be able to fill the gap if the Palestinian Authority collapses under financial pressure. Speaking in Washington after he ended his posting as envoy to the Quartet on the Middle East–the UN, the US, the EU and Russia–Wolfensohn said: "It would surprise me if one could win by getting all the kids out of school or starving the Palestinians. And I don't think anyone in the Quartet believes that to be the policy. I think that's a losing gambit." Wolfensohn stepped down on Apr. 30 because of restrictions in dealing with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which dominates the Palestinian Government. He said that recent promises of aid from Arab states would provide only temporary relief to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, which has been unable to raise the $130 million a month it needs to pay 165,000 civil servants and keep services going. He cautioned that if Israel continued to withhold authority tax revenues and maintain its restrictions on the movement of Palestinian trade and workers, by 2008 74 percent of Palestinians would be living in poverty and 47 percent would be unemployed. He echoed earlier warnings that fortifying non-governmental organizations could not replace the apparatus of the Palestinian Authority if it collapsed.