Introduction

Ever since Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, Palestinian commuting labour migrants have played a key role in shaping Palestinian economic growth patterns and in binding the Occupied Territories to Israel. Between 1974 and 1992, labour migrants going to Israel represented over a third of the Palestinian employed workforce, and generated more than a quarter of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) GNP. They anchored the WBGS’s economic growth to Israeli demand for Palestinian goods and services, and at the same time helped finance the Palestinian trade deficit with the Jewish state. Wages earned in Israel allowed income per capita in the WBGS to more than double between 1970 and 1993. Since the Oslo peace process in 1993, though, Palestinian migrant flows to Israel have become increasingly volatile, causing large falls in income per capita and leading some to argue that the era of migration has come to an end.