http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2016/images/latuff_israeli_goods.gifAccording to Shir Hever, at least 78 percent of humanitarian aid intended for Palestinians ends up in Israel's coffers, and donors could be directly subsidizing up to a third of the occupation's costs. . . . The problem, says Hever, is Israel's self-imposed role as mediator. To reach the Palestinians, donors have no choice but to go through Israel. This provides ripe opportunities for what he terms "aid subversion" and "aid diversion." The first results from the Palestinians being a captive market. They have access to few goods and services that are not Israeli. Who Profits?, an Israeli organization monitoring the economic benefits for Israel in the occupation, assesses that dairy firm Tnuva enjoys a monopoly in the West Bank worth $60 million annually. Aid diversion, meanwhile, occurs because Israel controls all movement of people and goods. Israeli restrictions mean it gets to charge for transportation and storage and levy "security" fees. Other studies have identified additional profits from "aid destruction." When Israel wrecks foreign-funded aid projects, Palestinians lose -- but Israel often benefits. Cement-maker Nesher, for example, is reported to control 85 percent of all construction by Israelis and Palestinians, including the supplies for rebuilding efforts in Gaza after Israel's repeated rampages. Significant segments of Israeli society, aside from those in the security industries, are lining their pockets from the occupation. Paradoxically, the label "the most aid-dependent people in the world" -- usually affixed to the Palestinians -- might be better used to describe Israelis. What can be done?

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