Is it Realistic to Negotiate with the PA?

With all the talk about a possible peace deal with Saudi Arabia, inevitably the question comes what to do about the Palestinians.

Maybe I am being naïve but the question is whether we need to do anything at all. For sure the Saudis will want to save face in the Arab world for “achieving” something for the Palestinians but I do believe this is of a lesser priority for them.

Is the world beginning to see the PA for what it is? A failed, corrupt Authority that cannot even control the people they represent. The P.A. is an epic failure. It doesn’t work for the Palestinians and it definitely doesn’t work for Israel.

Indeed, if anyone wants proof of why the Palestinians cannot be allowed to have a state of their own in the foreseeable future, they need look no further than the P.A.

Having lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas, it has lost control of Jenin and Nablus in Samaria to terrorists, the two largest cities in Samaria. By the P.A.’s own admission, the Iranians have already established a foothold in their territory—a development that is extremely dangerous for Israel.

The P.A. is horribly managed and corruption is rampant. P.A. employees are not even paid their full wages, although P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas still finds plenty of money to pay terrorists and their families very generous monthly salaries for killing Jews.

There is no accountability in the P.A. There have been no elections since 2006. Abbas is now in the 19th year of his four-year term. The Palestinian Legislative Council, which was last elected in 2006, was dissolved in 2018, and Abbas has ruled by presidential decree ever since. The P.A. strongly resembles other Arab dictatorships, with severe restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

In a recent poll, 80% of Palestinians said they wanted Abbas to resign. In March, a poll found that 52% of Palestinians thought it would be a good thing if the P.A. collapsed. Even the Palestinians want to get rid of the P.A.

The Palestine Center for Strategic Studies recently released statistics showing that about two-thirds of the terrorists who have died in the recent wave of terrorism in Judea and Samaria are from Abbas’s Fatah party and most of them were members of the P.A.’s security forces. So, if most of the recent terrorism that Israelis have had to suffer from comes from Abbas’s P.A., why should Israel offer more concessions?

The Palestinians have a great opportunity for work in Israel. With unemployment down to 3.5%, many contractors are having difficulties filling the vacancies. With job opportunities offering not only salaries well above what they can earn under the PA but also attractive social benefits not available under the PA, many Palestinian families can improve their standard of living at a stroke. However, the PA must take control of its own people.