Kerry to Meet with Abbas; Worried about PA’s Financial Crisis

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with PA President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the Palestinian financial crisis.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to meet today (Friday) with PA President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the Palestinian financial crisis at the sidelines of an economic conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Jordanian King Abdullah and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are also expected to participate.

“We continue to be concerned about the PA,” a US State Department officials told Kerry’s press contingent on Thursday. “It’s really part of the continuous, ongoing conversation we’re having with the critical stakeholders here.”

The Palestinian Authority’s perpetual financial crisis has been worsened by the Israeli government’s decision to withhold $127 million in tax revenues from the PA. That decision was in response to a series of unilateral steps taken by the PA to achieve de facto statehood outside of the context of the peace process. This included a failed bid for UN recognition and a successful bid for accession to the International Criminal Court. The PA has indicated that it will take Israel to the ICC on April 1, the date of its accession.

The leaders will be meeting on the sidelines of Egypt’s Economic Development Conference, which is being held Friday-Sunday. The conference will be attended by some 2,000 delegates from 112 countries, including heads of state and CEOs of multinational corporations. Egypt hopes to use the event to double foreign direct investment to $8 billion.