Mahmoud Abbas Builds $13M Presidential Palace
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is reportedly having a $13-million luxurious presidential palace built near Ramallah despite his government facing a $2-billion deficit.
According to the Times of Israel and several other Israeli news outlets, the project, which includes two helipads, is listed on the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction website devoted to “Ongoing and Future Projects.” The site, which includes a computer rendering of the completed palace, describes the complex as being funded by the Palestinian Authority’s treasury.
However, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an said PA officials are denying that the compound is a presidential residence or that it is being paid for with public funds, according to Haaretz.
PA officials said the complex will serve as a leadership headquarters and residence to receive world leaders and is being funded by international donations and private Palestinian corporations, Haaretz reported.
Most projects listed on the site are funded by international donors, including the Canadian and French governments.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
