Palestinians secretly set up exile government

Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama

TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority has quietly made plans to run its government in exile following the expected declaration of a Palestinian state at the United Nations on Friday, WND has learned.

The contingency is to be put in place if Israel cracks down on Palestinian institutions or arrests Palestinian leaders in response to the PA's move to abandon talks and instead seek a state unilaterally at the U.N.

Already, Israel has been debating taking some punitive steps against the PA, including holding back tax revenues and economic cooperation following any U.N. vote.

Last week, Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon warned Israel could halt economic assistance to the PA.

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He stated, "Future assistance and cooperation could be severely and irreparably compromised if the Palestinian leadership continues on its path of essentially acting in contravention of all signed agreements which also regulate existing economic relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."

Still, the Israeli government has already indicated it will likely continue to transfer tax revenue to the PA.

Yesterday, WND reported Turkey has been leading a campaign to raise money from the Arab world if U.S. and European funding of the Palestinian Authority is halted in the wake of the PA's bid to declare statehood at the U.N., according to Palestinian security sources speaking to WND.

However, a number of PA officials, speaking to WND on background, said there was no indication either the U.S. or the European Union would withhold financial aid.

Currently, the vast majority of all aid to the PA comes from the U.S. and EU. According to figures released by the PA, only 22 percent of the $530,000,000 received since the beginning of 2010 came from Arab donors.