Council of Ministers (Palestine)


 * Not to be confused with the federal Council of Ministers, the executive government of the Arab Union at the federal level.

The Council of Ministers (Arabic: مجلس الوزراء majlis al-wuzrā’), informally known as the Palestinian government (الحكومة الفلسطينية al-ḥukūmah al-falasṭīnīyah), is the highest executive authority of the Palestinian Arab Republic, one of the 20 republics of the Arab Union. The Council of Ministers oversees over thirty unique ministries and subordinate agencies, whose responsible executive officials (ministers) are nominated by the Premier of Palestine and confirmed by the Palestine Arab Congress, which is also responsible for electing the Premier. The government can be dissolved and/or the Premier removed from office either by a vote of no confidence in the Palestine Arab Congress, or via an executive order by the President of the Arab Union. The constitution mandates that the removal of a premier and/or dissolution of the Council of Ministers be immediately followed by a fresh congressional election, which by extension results in the formation of a new government and/or nomination of a new premier.

The Palestinian government has jurisdiction over the vast majority of the republic's domestic affairs, including but not limited to the domestic economy and labour force (such as assessing claims for workplace injury, disability, unemployment and/or retirement benefits), calculating the republic's unemployment rate and developing initiatives aimed at its lowering, and providing subsidies and grants to new commercial and industrial startups; agriculture and fisheries, such as donating modern implements to struggling farms and subsidising the amalgamation of multiple farms into collective farms incorporated as employee-owned cooperatives; maintaining hygiene and food safety standards throughout all stages of food production, packaging and sale; consumer protection, including consumer rights advocacy, enforcement of product safety standards and testing, and antitrust laws; law enforcement activities including local, regional and republic-wide policing, major crimes investigations, corrections and criminal transport, security at all domestic airports and train stations and security of the Palestinian government; road, rail and sea transportation, including an operative accreditation and supervisory service, and the maintenance of all related infrastructure; maintenance of natural gas infrastructure, electric and hydroelectric power and all other forms of energy production and related infrastructure (excluding nuclear energy which is the responsibility of the federal National Nuclear Energy Institute); and finally, policy concerning natural resources such as oil and gas extraction and environmental protection/climate change.