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| Peace is profitable; war/conflict very costly (Image source: clipartist.com) |
A new study says that Israelis and Palestinians would gain
billions of dollars from peace.
AP reports the US-based RAND Corp. study
published Monday indicates over the next decade Israelis would gain US$120
billion from a peace deal. The Palestinians would gain US$50 billion, marking a
36-percent rise in their average per-capita income.
In contrast, a return to
violence would see the Israeli economy lose some US$250 billion in foregone
economic opportunities, while the Palestinians could see their per-capita gross
domestic product fall by as much as 46 percent.
The findings are in line
with long-time arguments that peace is in the economic interest of both sides.
C. Ross Anthony, director
of RAND's Israeli-Palestinian Initiative, says he hopes the research will offer
"alternatives to the current destructive cycle of action, reaction and
inaction."
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