Business links vital for peace, says Ed Balls
SHADOW CHANCELLOR Ed Balls has said that improving economic relations between Israel and the Palestinians is vital for peace.
Writing in the JC following this week’s terror attack in Jerusalem, Mr Balls advised the community not to give up hope.
Mr Balls condemned boycott campaigns as counter-productive to peace, and said strengthening economic ties between Israel, the Palestinians and the rest of the world would be the key precursor to a twostate solution.
Israel’s reputation as a “start-up nation” was well-deserved, he said, citing the fact that Israel has the highest number of new businesses per capita outside California.
A c c o r d i n g to the Shadow C h a n c e l l o r , work is already being done at the Labour UK- Israel Economic Dialogue group, part of Labour Friends of Israel, to build business partnerships between Israeli and Palestinian businesses.
Support from technology giants such as Cisco, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft has helped cement business partnerships between Israeli and Palestinian businesses which, in turn, have revitalised the West Bank economy.
Mr Balls writes that there are now more than 300 Palestinian technology firms employing 4,500 people; a massive improvement on the 23 firms there were 14 years ago. He said: “This is a difficult time but we are not walking away or giving up hope… P i o ne e r i ng I s r a e l i a nd P a l e s t i n - ian entrepreneursaremapp i n g o u t a path forward.”