Entangled in Palestinian Unity: Almost Persona Non Grata

Abstract

The chapter describes the author’s rollercoaster experience with the Israeli government when he was almost declared persona non grata over his involvement in resolving payment of salaries of Hamas civil servants in the Strip, a cause of tremendous tension after formation of the Palestinian government of national consensus, which had left the issue unresolved. This contributed to the implosion of Gaza, precipitating the third war. In the aftermath of that war, the UN after all conducted an extraordinary operation of transferring cash funding for salaries in Gaza with Israel's tacit knowledge. The question arises: could a devastating war have been averted if the UN would have been enabled to make a more timely payment in order to sustain stability in Gaza?