Offshoring to the Middle East

As of September 2012, Israel has held negotiations with the Palestinian Authority over outsourcing gas fields off the coast of the Gaza strip. The Israelis view it as mutually beneficial because they would be developing Palestine's marine oil reserves and create more available jobs for Palestinians. The agreement entails that Palestine would also have the liberty to tax any foreign companies seeking to pump there. Peace envoy Tony Blair states: "the PA would alone levy tariffs on any eventual revenues from private pumping in Gazan waters, though breakaway Hamas Islamists govern the coastal enclave."(Aljazeera 1.) implying that Hamas' governing of the coast would prove to be problematic due to their well known conflict with the Israeli government. 

This represents both an economic and political shift as Egypt was previously responsible for 40% of Israel's oil production prior to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and also represents a stride towards peace between Israel and Palestine. This way, outsourcing is providing not only an economic but also political function. Israel's high tech companies have also begun to outsource to Palestine, specifically the West Bank. "Israeli CEOs say it's their way of bringing a little bit of peace to their troubled corner of the world. But the real reason they're hiring Palestinians, they acknowledge, is because it simply makes good business sense" (Haaretz 1.) It seems better to concentrate on the more beneficial reason. The Israeli government has, in the past, outsourced its IT industry to eastern europe, and article from Israeli newspaper Haaretz claims "In the past three years, however, some have turned to Palestinian engineers and programmers. They are cheaper, ambitious, work in the same time zone, and — surprisingly to many Israelis — are remarkably similar to them." Again, this is important not only for the economic development of Palestine but also for the cause for eventual peace in the region. 

Here, outsourcing succeeds triumphantly not only because it helps to develop the economy of one nation and expand the economy of another, but also because it improves the relations between the two nations.   

                                                 Work Cited

Al Jazeera News. "Israel and PA Discuss Gaza Offshore Gas Plans - Middle East - Al Jazeera English." Israel and PA Discuss Gaza Offshore Gas Plans - Middle East - Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera Newspaper, 23 Sept. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/09/201292316466184221.html>.

Al Jazeera News. "Israel and PA Discuss Gaza Offshore Gas Plans - Middle East - Al Jazeera English." Israel and PA Discuss Gaza Offshore Gas Plans - Middle East - Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera Newspaper, 23 Sept. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/09/201292316466184221.html>.