Sovereignty and economic development: The case of Israel and Palestine

The future permanent economic agreement between Israel and Palestine will have to determine, among other things, the trade regime and whether there should be economic borders. The decision will have to satisfy goals of economic development, including a reduction in economic and social gaps between the two countries, and questions of sovereignty. We describe and analyse the evolution of the Palestinian economy before and since the Oslo agreements. Concerning the future agreement, we discuss the tradeoffs between sovereignty and prosperity and argue for the establishment, at first, of economic borders and a regime of less than full integration.