The Jerusalem Post
Aug. 14, 2002
EDITORIAL: Who wants to be a billionaire?
It's official Yasser Arafat can now count himself among the world's richest men. In a briefing delivered Tuesday to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aharon Ze'evi (Farkash), reported that the Palestinian leader's net worth is estimated to be $1.3 billion.
To give this number some perspective, consider the following: US businessman Jeff Bezos, the founder of on-line retailing giant Amazon.com, is reportedly worth just $1.23 billion. Whoever thought that the rifle would be more profitable than books? Of course, Bezos and others like him earned their keep through a combination of hard work, entrepreneurial spirit, and investing savvy. Arafat chose a more straightforward path: He stole his fortune from his own people.
Indeed, not since the great kleptocracies of Mobuto Sese Seku of Zaire and Gen. Sani Abacha of Nigeria has a dictator helped himself so freely to his people's assets, treating the public treasury as his private piggy bank.
For all his professed concern for the welfare of the Palestinians, Arafat's bloated bank account offers the most compelling proof to date that he does not put his money where his mouth is.
Reports of Arafat's personal corruption and profligacy are hardly new. As far back as 1990, the CIA reportedly estimated that Arafat and the PLO had between $8 billion to $14 billion worth of assets at its disposal. In November 1995, the US General Accounting Office compiled a report on Arafat's finances, but it was inexplicably kept secret due to "national security interests" meaning a desire not to embarrass the Palestinian leader by revealing his vast wealth to the world.
Five years ago, in April 1997, the Israeli public was stunned to learn about a secret bank account maintained by Arafat at a Tel Aviv branch, which was said to serve as a channel for all sorts of sundry financial activities.
More recently, as the Middle East Media and Research Institute revealed, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Watan on June 7 published photocopies of documents from Cairo indicating that Arafat had deposited $5.1 million into a private account he maintains in Egypt. The money, which had been donated by Arab states in the Persian Gulf area to assist Palestinians, was instead diverted to cover the living expenses of Arafat's wife and daughter, who divide their time between Paris and Switzerland.
But the significance of Maj.-Gen. Ze'evi's assessment is that it marks the first time that the Israeli intelligence services have gone on record and confirmed Arafat's kleptocratic habits. Moreover, Ze'evi also noted that Arafat continues to circumvent his newly appointed Finance Minister Salem Fayad, with the help of his long-time economic aide Muhammad Rashid, who continues to channel the profits earned from various PA-orchestrated monopolies directly into Arafat's pockets. Though Fayad's appointment was intended to underline Arafat's alleged commitment to reforming the PA, the fact that such shady financial shenanigans continue apace reveals just how empty the Palestinian reform process has been.
Ironically enough, this reality seems to have been lost on the government, for on the same day that Ze'evi was appearing in the Knesset, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres's aides indicated that he would soon be meeting with Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat to discuss the transfer of additional funds to the PA. In light of the new revelations regarding Arafat's wealth, this decision could hardly have been more ill-timed, let alone ill-conceived.
Though much has been made of late regarding the USAID report on growing signs of malnutrition in the Palestinian-controlled areas, the fact remains that Arafat himself bears the brunt of responsibility for the economic crisis engulfing his people. Not only because he launched the ongoing terror campaign against Israel, but also due to his outright theft of Palestinian resources. As The Jerusalem Post 's Tal Muscal reported yesterday, Arafat's $1.3 billion could feed 3 million Palestinians for an entire year, as well as finance a range of much-needed social welfare and health-care projects in the territories. Assuming that Arafat is not stricken with a sudden bout of generosity, it behooves the international community to take immediate measures to compel him to return the money he has stolen.
After the death of Nigerian strongman Sani Abacha in 1998, a campaign was launched to force his family to return some of the estimated $4 billion that he had plundered from his nation's treasury. Though much of the money was never found, an arrangement was made according to which at least $1 billion located in various European banks was to be returned to the Nigerian government by Abacha's heirs. Hence, a precedent does exist for forcing Arafat to do the same. Anyone truly concerned by the plight of the Palestinians should demand nothing less.
Aug. 14, 2002
EDITORIAL: Who wants to be a billionaire?
It's official Yasser Arafat can now count himself among the world's richest men. In a briefing delivered Tuesday to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aharon Ze'evi (Farkash), reported that the Palestinian leader's net worth is estimated to be $1.3 billion.
To give this number some perspective, consider the following: US businessman Jeff Bezos, the founder of on-line retailing giant Amazon.com, is reportedly worth just $1.23 billion. Whoever thought that the rifle would be more profitable than books? Of course, Bezos and others like him earned their keep through a combination of hard work, entrepreneurial spirit, and investing savvy. Arafat chose a more straightforward path: He stole his fortune from his own people.
Indeed, not since the great kleptocracies of Mobuto Sese Seku of Zaire and Gen. Sani Abacha of Nigeria has a dictator helped himself so freely to his people's assets, treating the public treasury as his private piggy bank.
For all his professed concern for the welfare of the Palestinians, Arafat's bloated bank account offers the most compelling proof to date that he does not put his money where his mouth is.
Reports of Arafat's personal corruption and profligacy are hardly new. As far back as 1990, the CIA reportedly estimated that Arafat and the PLO had between $8 billion to $14 billion worth of assets at its disposal. In November 1995, the US General Accounting Office compiled a report on Arafat's finances, but it was inexplicably kept secret due to "national security interests" meaning a desire not to embarrass the Palestinian leader by revealing his vast wealth to the world.
Five years ago, in April 1997, the Israeli public was stunned to learn about a secret bank account maintained by Arafat at a Tel Aviv branch, which was said to serve as a channel for all sorts of sundry financial activities.
More recently, as the Middle East Media and Research Institute revealed, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Watan on June 7 published photocopies of documents from Cairo indicating that Arafat had deposited $5.1 million into a private account he maintains in Egypt. The money, which had been donated by Arab states in the Persian Gulf area to assist Palestinians, was instead diverted to cover the living expenses of Arafat's wife and daughter, who divide their time between Paris and Switzerland.
But the significance of Maj.-Gen. Ze'evi's assessment is that it marks the first time that the Israeli intelligence services have gone on record and confirmed Arafat's kleptocratic habits. Moreover, Ze'evi also noted that Arafat continues to circumvent his newly appointed Finance Minister Salem Fayad, with the help of his long-time economic aide Muhammad Rashid, who continues to channel the profits earned from various PA-orchestrated monopolies directly into Arafat's pockets. Though Fayad's appointment was intended to underline Arafat's alleged commitment to reforming the PA, the fact that such shady financial shenanigans continue apace reveals just how empty the Palestinian reform process has been.
Ironically enough, this reality seems to have been lost on the government, for on the same day that Ze'evi was appearing in the Knesset, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres's aides indicated that he would soon be meeting with Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat to discuss the transfer of additional funds to the PA. In light of the new revelations regarding Arafat's wealth, this decision could hardly have been more ill-timed, let alone ill-conceived.
Though much has been made of late regarding the USAID report on growing signs of malnutrition in the Palestinian-controlled areas, the fact remains that Arafat himself bears the brunt of responsibility for the economic crisis engulfing his people. Not only because he launched the ongoing terror campaign against Israel, but also due to his outright theft of Palestinian resources. As The Jerusalem Post 's Tal Muscal reported yesterday, Arafat's $1.3 billion could feed 3 million Palestinians for an entire year, as well as finance a range of much-needed social welfare and health-care projects in the territories. Assuming that Arafat is not stricken with a sudden bout of generosity, it behooves the international community to take immediate measures to compel him to return the money he has stolen.
After the death of Nigerian strongman Sani Abacha in 1998, a campaign was launched to force his family to return some of the estimated $4 billion that he had plundered from his nation's treasury. Though much of the money was never found, an arrangement was made according to which at least $1 billion located in various European banks was to be returned to the Nigerian government by Abacha's heirs. Hence, a precedent does exist for forcing Arafat to do the same. Anyone truly concerned by the plight of the Palestinians should demand nothing less.