The most successful source of income in the areas under control of the Palestinian Authority is the theft of vehicles from Israel, carried out under the sponsorship of the PA. Over the last decade about 300,000 vehicles have been stolen from Israel, disclosed Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Gilad, who spoke to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, actually accused the PA of direct responsibility for car thefts, which began in 1992 and reached its peak in 1997, and said that its senior officials are “involved in crime” and in fact directing the thieves.

The theft industry constitutes an additional source of income to the PA, which issues license plates to anybody. Anyone who has a stolen car from Israel has to pay a fee to the PA and in exchange receives local license plates, the Palestinian model for “transfer of ownership.”

The PA crime industry also includes the forgery of Israeli ID cards in large quantities as well as the forgery of Israeli money.

Ruling over this black economy is Mohammed Rashid, Arafat’s close associate. Maj. Gen. Gilad said, “Rashid knows all the secrets. His family is in Canada and he travels extensively abroad.”

The coordinator of government activities in the territories also described the lives of luxury and corruption of senior PA officials, whom, he said, do not at all take into account the difficult situation of the Palestinian population. “They employ nannies from Sri Lanka, drive fancy cars, and their children do not commit suicide bombings. They don’t care at all about the suffering of the people.”

This article ran in Maariv on August 7, 2002

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