The Swiss Israeli businessman Aryeh Gilon has been appointed by Yassir Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, as manager of the Palestinian Pension Fund. This follows Arafat’s dismissal of Jewish Moroccan businessman Gavriel Benon, who operates in France. Gilon runs the Belesta Management company in Zurich.
The Palestinian Pension Fund includes moneys due to Palestinian workers employed in Israel since 1967, pursuant to the Oslo and Paris accords. Under these agreement, Israel undertook to remit $155 million to the Palestinians, and has so far remitted only $80 million. The Ministry of Finance reports that the balance of the amount will be remitted in accordance with the agreements, in the course of the year.
The moneys are forwarded by Euro-Trade Bank in Tel-Aviv to the US company, Morgan Stanley, which holds part of the Palestinians’ pension moneys. A letter from the Fund’s chairman, Justice Minister Freih Abu Meddien, mailed to the US company in November, states that Gavriel Danon and SDPA, the company owned by him, no longer represent the Palestinian Authority.
According to Reuters News Agency, which published the report on Sunday, Arafat is appointing Jewish or Israeli representatives to manage the fund, on the assumption that they, when negotiating with Israel, will be able to secure the remittance of the balance of the funds.
Benon, who holds US citizenship, officially began advising Arafat in December 1993. After almost three years in office, he was dismissed over "professional differences of opinion", evidently on the initiative of the Palestinian Minister of Justice. From the outset, Benon’s appointment was a bone of contention among senior Palestinian officers, including the highly influential Laila Khaled, Palestinian representative in France.
Benon was paid a quarter of a million dollars for three years. He took his pay out of the Fund moneys. The Palestinian Authority confirmed that this was agreed remuneration. Benon stated that he had thereby waived another $200,000 due to him in respect of his work.