"Ask Zelensky": UAE rejects Netanyahu's request to pay Palestinian workers
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to the UAE to pay unemployment benefits to Palestinians in the West Bank, who have been barred from entering Israel since October 7. The head of the UAE advised him to ask Zelensky for the money.
UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request to pay "unemployment" benefits to Palestinian workers in the occupied West Bank, who have been barred from entering Israeli territory following an October 7 attack by Hamas. This was reported by the Israeli publication Azios, citing an official source familiar with the incident.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan sarcastically told Netanyahu, "Ask Zelensky," referring to the president of Ukraine, who receives a large amount of financial support from the West.
According to an Israeli official, this refusal means that many Arab countries will not pay for Israel to maintain the status quo (pre-war control - ed.) in Gaza and the West Bank after the war.
Why did Israel ask for help from the UAE?
After the conflict with Hamas, the Israeli government banned the entry of more than 100,000 Palestinians who work in the West Bank in Israel for security reasons.
The worsening Palestinian economy and rising unemployment due to the war have fueled fears among Israeli security forces and the Biden administration that such conditions could lead to increased violence in the West Bank.
Israel's Economic Cabinet, led by ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, rejected a proposal by the Israeli Defense Ministry to allow some Palestinian workers into Israel.
Despite pressure from the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security agency, Netanyahu decided not to put the issue to a security cabinet vote after Smotrich and other radical right-wing ministers threatened to resign.
Trying to find a solution to the problem without confronting the coalition members, Netanyahu was forced to appeal to other countries to provide unemployment benefits to Palestinian workers.
