Banking thwarts terror organization

Reuters:

The reluctance of banks to risk U.S. sanctions and lawsuits by dealing with a Hamas-led government has pushed the Palestinian Authority to the brink of financial collapse sooner than donors had expected, diplomats said.

The rapid onset of a banking crisis -- within days of Hamas's swearing-in on March 29 -- could further depress Palestinian incomes, fuel political unrest and speed the arrival of a humanitarian crisis with which donors are not yet prepared to cope, according to diplomats and Palestinian officials.

Western diplomats and private-sector experts said Hamas's troubles finding a bank has for now eclipsed Western aid cuts as the biggest immediate threat to the new government's viability.

"This is by far the biggest crisis facing the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian economy. It could have profound long-term consequences," said Gidi Grinstein, president of the Reut Institute, an independent Israeli think tank.

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The lawsuits in the US against the banks who have been financing terrorist are having a positive effect. Banking is starting to be the achielles heel of the terror states. Note, the North Koreans squeling when their bank used for distributing their conterfeit US currency shuts them down. It is a rare case of success on the lawfare front.