Billionaire Al-Masri: "Strong Palestinian economy is good for us and for Israel"
Goes for cooperation with the Israelis: Bashar al-Masri
Israel Netz - Economic cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians is possible even without a diplomatic process, says Palestinian billionaire Al-Masri. On Monday he participated in an economic forum in the presence of the Austrian Chancellor.
JERUSALEM (IN) - The Palestinians want to develop their economy so that their future state can be economically on par with Israel. Billionaire Bashar al-Masri said so on Monday at an Israeli-Palestinian economic forum. The meeting was also attended by the Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern.
The SPÖ politician stated after the forum in an interview with the daily newspaper "Jerusalem Post": "There is plenty of room for cooperation." The day before, he visited the Palestinian planned city of Rawabi in the north of the West Bank, whose construction was financed by Al-Masri , He said during the meeting that a strong Palestinian economy is "good for us and good for Israel". Israel will go through a difficult time if it does not solve the Palestinian problem and strengthen the economy.
According to Al-Masri's assessment, the best chances of success currently lie with Palestinian companies involved in technology and the media. Because they are not dependent on open borders. The Palestinians aspired to green technology and to developing business opportunities with the Arab community in Israel, added the billionaire.
Knesset member: No government decision necessary
The forum was organized by Israeli MP Erel Margalit, who is running for the presidency of the Social Democratic Labor Party. He argues that cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian companies is possible regardless of any diplomatic process. International cooperation between Israelis, Palestinians and regional partners is supported by the help of the international community, including Austria. "It does not take a big government decision to have cooperation in health IT." If the Austrian Chancellor lends credibility to some of the cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians, that would be conducive to the process.
To view original article in Hebrew, Click Here.
To view original translated article, Click Here.
