Aix Group
Encyclopedia
Aix Group is an Israeli-Palestinian-international economic study team hosted by the Université Paul Cézanne-Aix-Marseille III in France in coordination with the Peres Center for Peace
in Israel and DATA Center for Studies and Research in the Palestinian Authority. Their aim is to inform policy makers of the economic costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
, as well as to provide policy makers with economic solutions towards a two-state solution, and detail how both sides stand to benefit by improving economic cooperation.
from Gaza and the West Bank, implemented by Israel in the summer of 2005. Potential outcomes arising from the withdrawal are discussed, as well as its effects on the survival of the Palestinian economy.
The Aix Group has offered proposals on the design and cost of a territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. They recommned the construction of a joint motorway and rail link between the Karni Crossing in the Gaza Strip and El Majed Crossing on the West Bank. They estimate the cost of the project up to $1 billion , to be financed by the World Bank as a long term loan to Palestine.
Although the Palestinian economy has shown robust levels of growth since the end of the Second Intifada the report’s findings highlight the inherent weaknesses of the Palestinian economy and how the current political and economic status quo between Israel and the Palestinians remains unsustainable. According to the researchers, a failure to resume peace negotiations based on the principle of a two-state solution may result in the dangerous transformation of the West Bank into a Gaza-style scenario.
To date the position paper has been widely commented upon, both on national Israeli television and in a number of Israeli and Palestinian financial publications.
Peres Center for Peace
The Peres Center for Peace located in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization founded in 1996 by Nobel Peace Laureate and current President of Israel Shimon Peres, with the aim of furthering his vision in which people of the Middle East...
in Israel and DATA Center for Studies and Research in the Palestinian Authority. Their aim is to inform policy makers of the economic costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
, as well as to provide policy makers with economic solutions towards a two-state solution, and detail how both sides stand to benefit by improving economic cooperation.
Steering Committee
The work of the Aix Group is directed by a steering committees whose members include:- Prof. Gilbert Benhayoun (Director of the CEREFI, Université Paul Cézanne-Aix-Marseille III, and chairman of the Aix Group)
- Mr Saeb Bamya (Former Deputy Minister of National Economy in the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Coordinator of the Aix Group)
- Prof. Arie Arnon (Prof. of Economics at Ben Gurion University and Israeli coordinator of the Aix Group)
- Dr. Ron PundakRon PundakDr. Ron Pundak is an Israeli director of the Peres Center for Peace in Tel Aviv. He is on the Board of Driectors of the Aix Group. Ron Pundak is the son of Herbert Pundik, a notable journalist and author....
(Director General, The Peres Center for PeacePeres Center for PeaceThe Peres Center for Peace located in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization founded in 1996 by Nobel Peace Laureate and current President of Israel Shimon Peres, with the aim of furthering his vision in which people of the Middle East...
) - Dr. Samir Hazboun (Executive Director, DATA Center for Studies and Research)
Previous Publications
Since its formation in 2002 the Aix Group published a series of position papers on economic issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The aim of the position papers is to provide policy makers with 'ready-to-use' economic policies should a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians be concluded. To date the Aix Group has published four position papers.Economic Road Map: An Israeli-Palestinian Perspective on Permanent Status (2004)
Outlines recommendations for future long-term economic relations between Israel and Palestine in the following polict fields: trade, labour, monetary, fiscal and investment.Israel and Palestine: Between Disengagement and the Economic Road Map (2005)
Analyzes the risks and benefits of Israel's unilateral disengagement planIsrael's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
from Gaza and the West Bank, implemented by Israel in the summer of 2005. Potential outcomes arising from the withdrawal are discussed, as well as its effects on the survival of the Palestinian economy.
Economic Dimensions of a Two-State Agreement between Israel and Palestine(2007)
Examination of four key economic issues that need addressing for advancing the two-state solution.- Economic Cooperation in Jerusalem
- Economic Aspects of the Palestinian Refugee Issue
- Cooperation in Infrastructure Issues
- Topics of contemporary importance (i.e. Palestinian labour, development of the Jordan Valley and transitional trade agreements)
Economic Dimensions of a Two-State Solution Agreement Between Israel and Palestine, Vol II: Supplementary Papers (2010)
Further examination of five important economic issues with respect to peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians- The comparative political-economic viability of a two-state solution versus a one-state solution
- Economic Aspects of the Palestinian Refugee Issue
- The territorial link between Gaza and the West Bank
- Economic Development of the Jordan Valley
- The Union for the MediterraneanUnion for the MediterraneanThe Union for the Mediterranean is a multilateral partnership that encompasses 43 countries from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 member states of the European Union and 16 Mediterranean partner countries from North Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans...
(EU-MED)
Territorial Link Between Gaza and the West Bank
Israelis and Palestinians have agreed in principle to the creation of a link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, referred to as a "permanent safe passage" by Bill Clinton in the 2000 Clinton Parameters.The Aix Group has offered proposals on the design and cost of a territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. They recommned the construction of a joint motorway and rail link between the Karni Crossing in the Gaza Strip and El Majed Crossing on the West Bank. They estimate the cost of the project up to $1 billion , to be financed by the World Bank as a long term loan to Palestine.
Palestinian Refugees
One of the Aix Group’s ongoing issues relates to the design of an economic agreement concerning the Palestinian refugees. They estimate that a fair package of resettlement or rehabilitation for the 4.5m registered refugees would run to between $55 billion and $85 billion, the cost of which would be divided between the UN and the Israeli and Palestinian governemnets.Economic Consequences of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
In 2011, in the run-up to the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations the Aix Group published a research paper on the current state of the Palestinian economy and the possible economic outcomes should the Palestinian statehood bid succeed or fail ('"September" as a Crossroads'). The research was conducted jointly by Israeli economists Yitshak Gal and Arie Arnon along with Palestinian economists Shawqi Makhtoub and Saeb Bamya.Although the Palestinian economy has shown robust levels of growth since the end of the Second Intifada the report’s findings highlight the inherent weaknesses of the Palestinian economy and how the current political and economic status quo between Israel and the Palestinians remains unsustainable. According to the researchers, a failure to resume peace negotiations based on the principle of a two-state solution may result in the dangerous transformation of the West Bank into a Gaza-style scenario.
To date the position paper has been widely commented upon, both on national Israeli television and in a number of Israeli and Palestinian financial publications.
Links to Publications
- Economic Road Map: An Israeli-Palestinian Perspective on Permanent Status (2004)
- Israel and Palestine: Between Disengagement and the Economic Road Map (2005)
- Economic Dimensions of a Two-State Agreement Between Israel and Palestine (2007)
- Economic Dimensions of a Two-State Agreement Between Israel and Palestine, Vol II: Supplementary Papers (2010)
- "September" as a Crossroads: An Opportunity for a Two-State Solution and the Risks of the Status Quo and Esclataion (2011)