Government

Yasser Arafat is the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The government of the West Bank has up to now been a dual one: one part applying to Israeli citizens and the other to Palestinians. Israelis are under Israeli law and authority while Palestinians are ruled by the Civil Administration, a joint civil and military bureaucracy, under the Israeli Ministry of Defence among others.

Jericho and its surrounding area is independent of this administration; it is now ruled by the PNA under Arafat. Up to now, Palestinian control of Jericho has been limited to the police, a new school curriculum and the administration of local health facilities. In the rest of the West Bank, Israel retains responsibility for security and administration.

As a result of the peace process, the Civil Administration has limited its concern primarily to matters directly affecting the safety and welfare of Israeli citizens. Under the terms of the accord signed in Washington in 1993, responsibility for education and culture, health, social welfare, direct taxation and tourism is to be transferred from Israeli control to Palestinian.

An elected Palestinian Council will negotiate with Israel to determine the final status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.