Behind the Headlines: Despite Quest for Self-government, Palestinians Still Linked to Israel

Few Israelis were prepared emotionally when Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat made his historic visit to the West Bank earlier this summer to establish Palestinian authority over Jericho and the Gaza Strip. For one Arab-Israeli joint venture, however, the peace treaty was already a fait accompli.

Tel Aviv-based Solan Telecommunications and Barat el-Arab in eastern Jerusalem had already agreed to provide temporary telephone, long-distance, fax and satellite services to the hordes of foreign journalists that descended upon virtually phoneless Jericho that hot July day.

Since Arafat’s visit, the two companies have continued to work together to upgrade the tenuous phone links between Israelis and Palestinians.

“Telecom infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza is very poor,” according to Freeman Bandak, president of Barat el-Arab and official dealer of Motorola cellular equipment in the areas now under PLO control.

Bandak’s joint-venture partner, Jacob Solan, earned fame — some say notoriety — several years ago when he set up a London computer link that allows Israelis and Palestinians to make direct-dial calls to 11 Arab countries, usually without those countries’ consent.

Helping journalists cover Arafat’s visit was easy next to the enormous telecommunication hurdles that lie ahead for the fledgling Palestinian entity, according to officials in the region.

According to statistics provided by Bezek, Israel’s state-owned telephone company, the West Bank and Gaza — with a combined population of 2.5 million people — have an average phone density of only five to six lines per 100 households. This compares to 36 lines per 100 households in Israel proper.

‘BEZEK RUNS THE SHOW’

“Bezek serves all Arab towns and villages (in the West Bank) and runs the show,” said Radwan Abu-Ayash, director of the Palestinian Broadcasting Service and the PLO’s chief negotiator on telecommunications issues during peace talks with Israel.

“Now everything is connected with Bezek,” added Abdel Hafiz al-Ashab, a doctor from Hebron who was recently named the PLO’s minister of communications.

“We look forward to disengaging ourselves from any other outside company, but we can’t at this time,” he acknowledged. “On the contrary, we need to cooperate with Bezek until we have the capability to run the telephone system ourselves.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinians are getting help from International Technologies Integration, a Virginia consulting firm active in the Middle East and in various Russian semi-autonomous regions.

ITI recently won a concession to build, maintain and operate the newly established Palestine Telecommunications Co., known as Patelco, in all areas under PLO control now or in the future.

“It’s not a big system, and phone penetration is woefully minuscule,” said Patelco’s chairman, Dennis Schonacher, estimating there are only 23,500 telephone lines in the Gaza Strip and 2,000 in Jericho. “Over the next few years, we expect a lot of that to change.”

Schonacher declined to say what other companies are in the consortium, or to discuss the financial details of ITI’s agreement with the PLO.

He did say, however, that the Palestinians would need at least $25 million in the next 12 months to bring their phone system up to minimum international standards.

“We’re using whatever was available under the Israeli system,” he said. “Until things are organized and we get Palestinians trained, the Israelis will be operating the company on a short-term basis under contract. It all depends on how fast we can get qualified people on board.”

ITI is no newcomer to the Middle East. In recent years, it has developed an overall communications plan for the Lebanese Defense Ministry, designed a 200,000-line central office system for the Beirut Reconstruction Authority, done consulting work for the NESMA Group in Saudi Arabia, and established joint ventures with MCI to install Earth stations in Kuwait and Syria.

For what appears to be political reasons, the Palestinian entity will not get its own country dialing code for the time being. Rather, calls to Jericho and the Gaza Strip will continue to require Israel’s “972” prefix as before. That will make it nearly impossible for the area’s residents to receive calls directly from family members in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

Some Israelis are skeptical whether the Patelco can function at all without help from Bezek.

“They have the same technology as we do, but they have too little of it,” said Avi Patias, Bezek’s vice president for engineering. “They don’t have enough capacity in switches or transmission, and they have a long waiting list for telephones. It’s impossible to get a phone in Gaza or Jericho.”

Added a Bezek spokesman in Jerusalem: “We would be happy to assist the Palestinians, and we would like for many reasons to do business with them.

“But they have this feeling now that since they’ve accomplished a kind of independence, they have to be independent in everything,” he said, adding: “It doesn’t make economic sense.”