Political Risk:
Very High
Score:
27/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
33/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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Palestinian law gives the Parliament the power to approve or reject laws, including security laws. The Parliament can also reject or amend the defence…
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The Parliament is not active, and therefore legislative scrutiny does not occur. Parliament has been inactive since 2007 and was dissolved in 2018 (1).…
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The Palestinian Parliament was dissolved in 2018 and had been inactive since 2007 (1), as such no scrutiny takes place. As there is no…
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Q2
0/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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The Rules of Procedure for the Palestine Legislative Council (PLC) specify a security committee with formal mechanisms, which implements scrutiny over security apparatuses (1).…
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The Parliament is not active, and no formal or informal oversight is exercised over the national security forces or any other semi-military forces (1),…
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The Parliament is not active, and no formal or informal oversight is exercised over the national security forces or any other semi-military forces (1),…
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The Parliament is not active, and no formal or informal oversight is exercised over the national security forces or any other semi-military forces (1),…
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The Parliament is not active, and no formal or informal oversight is exercised over the national security forces or any other semi-military forces (1),…
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The Parliament is not active, and no formal or informal oversight is exercised over the national security forces or any other semi-military forces (1),…
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Q3
25/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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In Palestine, there is no national defence strategy. However, there is a sectoral security strategy from 2015 that contains the basic principles of a…
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The security challenges facing the security sector are discussed in various fields. Sources discuss the challenges facing the work of the security forces, through…
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There are no public consultations or deliberations on any issues related to either defence or general laws (1).
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Not many reports on the defence or security sector are available, and few can be found on official websites (1), (2).
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Q4
33/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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There is very little chance that journalists or Palestinians have access to information on crucial issues related to security/military and defence. Sometimes the national…
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CSOs can work in the West Bank, with limited harassment or intervention, especially against CSOs which are critical to PA. Major CSOs in Palestine…
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In many cases, the National Security Forces meet with CSOs (1). These CSOs are either Pro-PA or Fatah affiliated NGOs or Human Rights Organizations…
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Q5
100/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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The Palestinian Authority signed and ratified the UNCAC in 2014, as part of its efforts to gain international recognition(1). The Anti Corruption Commission has…
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This indicator has not been assigned a score due to insufficient information or evidence. There has not been any report or information about compliance…
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Q6
63/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Some discussion occurs when a persistent problem re-occurs such as security campaign against wanted persons (attempts to arrest wanted persons who carry illegal weapons…
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There is no continuous engagement or public consultation or justification concerning defence issues or other public issues (1), (2). Although not regular or systematic…
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Q7
0/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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Q8
25/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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There is no designated commission or unit within the armed forces or the security forces that focus on corruption issues. However, as the PA…
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The Anticorruption Commission is not independent and has no authority. The minister of finance heads it, and as the national forces commanded by the…
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Neither the department nor the Anti-Corruption Commission has an active plan. Appointments are made through nepotism and not a meritocracy. The commission failed to…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The public does not trust the security forces when it comes to corruption and…
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Q10
0/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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There has not been any risk assessment within any of the PA armed services institutions (1), (2).
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, because there has not been any risk assessment within any of the PA armed services institutions (1),…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, because there has not been any risk assessment within any of the PA armed services institutions (1),…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
8/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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There is a general acquisition structure that follows the guidelines of the MoF. The process starts with the unit up to the head of…
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The process is managed and directed internally, with no public transparency (1).
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According to the law, the State Audit and Administrative Bureau (SACCB) is responsible for auditing all parties, including the security services (2). However, according…
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Q12
13/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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Q13
0/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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As there is no active legislative council, there is not any active committee; military or non-military (1). The legislative council is caught amid political…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable because there is no active legislative council. The legislative council has no effective scrutiny or influence on…
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Q14
25/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The budget is available online for the general expenditure, but without details (1).
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The budget has public expenditures on security and national forces salaries, without further details. The MoF and the PM and President’s Office are aware…
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It is challenging to obtain information from any ministry or national forces unit regarding financial issues (1), (2). The researcher attempted to contact the…
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Q15
17/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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There are only certain items within the budget that refer to income sources, and no information is released on the amounts received or the…
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As most of the national forces/intelligence services are affiliated with Fatah and have international and regional connections, scrutiny is affected by how much influence…
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Public Scrutiny and consultation over resources and public issues are minimal to non-existent in general, and on national forces and security issues in particular…
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Q16
6/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The Internal Audit Unit engages in irregular and superficial reviews of national forces, security agencies, and intelligence expenditure (1). However, this process is symbolic…
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There is little enabling oversight of the internal audit function of national forces expenditure (1). This is a requirement of the MoF, which need…
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There is the external audit from the MoF, and also the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (1). The internal reports are never released…
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In some cases, when grave issues are found, the armed forces and security agencies symbolically address the issue to distract the public or to…
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Q17
13/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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The external audit unit has the mandate to review the national forces but does not do so regularly or in detail. There may be…
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The external audit unit is independent of the National Forces, but reports to the executive. The budget of the external audit is linked to…
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Reports are rarely found on the internet or are available for journalists or CSOs (1). Policy briefs and news outlets can be found on…
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As the reports are not published, and no one follows up with recommendations security agencies and national forces do not alter their policies or…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
100/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable because the West Bank’s natural resources are under Israeli occupation, which prohibits PA personnel of agency involvement.…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable because the West Bank’s natural resources are under Israeli occupation, which prohibits PA personnel of agency involvement.…
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As there is no business linked to the defence sector, there is no involvement of individuals from the national forces in businesses related to…
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As there is no business linked to the defence sector, there is no related information available about natural resources and private bussinesses owned by…
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As there is no business linked to natural resources in Palestine, there are no enterprises owned or linked to the government (1). Thus, this…
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Organised Crime
Q19
50/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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In many cases, there are unsubstantiated allegations that security/ armed apparatus are involved in crimes to cover instances of corruption(1). The social media contains…
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According to our sources, “as there is no organized crime within the national forces, the government do not act or aware of such crimes/…
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Q20
13/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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There is security apparatus named “Al istkhbarat Al Askariya,”(The Military Intelligence), which is mandated to deal with crimes and corruption cases within the national…
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The PMI operations are subject to considerable and regular undue influence from top military officials or the executive(1). A majority of senior security officers…
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This indicator has not been assigned a score due to insufficient information or evidence. There is no evidence that this unit has investigated cases…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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According to the Intelligence General Law of 2005, the Intelligence Service shall have an independent budget it shall be included as one number in…
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The inactive Parliament and other groups have no influence and exercise limited oversight over the intelligence services policies and activities (1) (2).
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Q22
0/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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The criteria of the selections of the in senior positions of the intelligence are not clear. Nepotism plays a role in the selection process.…
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All senior positions are selected based on their affiliation and being faithful to the head of the agency, the executive (Abbas) and the Fatah…
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As senior positions are given based on nepotism and not meritocratic values, there is no oversight or any investigation on appointing senior or non-senior…
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Export Controls
Q23
100/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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According to the ATT website (1), the Palestinian Authority has signed and acceeded to the ATT.
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The Palestinian Authority does not produce any arms or weapons as agreed in the Oslo Accords. Thus, this indicator has been marked Not Applicable.
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The Palestinian Authority does not produce any arms or weapons as agreed in the Oslo Accords. Thus, this indicator has been marked Not Applicable.…
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Lobbying in Defence
The country has no framework for regulating lobbying activity.
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, because the country has no framework for regulating lobbying activity (see Q76A).
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, because the country has no framework for regulating lobbying activity (see Q76A).
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, because the country has no framework for regulating lobbying activity (see Q76A).
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