Because of the poor state of the economy, potential Palestinian investors who had come from abroad to examine investment possibilities have left. Regardless of the precise figures, it is abundantly clear that the Palestinian economy has deteriorated badly since the Oslo agreements. For many, living standards have declined. In other words, little of the aid money is available for investment in infrastructure, for developing industry and agricultu re, etc. The Oslo B agreement called for a police force of thirty thousand.
Recent estimates place the actual figure at least twice that.
Here, too, the basic problem stems from very costly duplication and other inefficiencies. Arafat establi shed a new security force to contain dissent at Palestinian universities. According to the Jerusalem Post , there are at least ten PA affiliated security forces operating in the Palestinian Autonomy areas. The highly-inflated security services and the ballooning bureaucracy absorb a large portion of the aid money. The inefficient and often corrupt administration which has emerged in the Palestinian Autonomy often discourages, rather than encourages, produ ctive enterprise and investment.