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A Practical Approach to a Palestinian State

[Weekly Standard] Elliott Abrams - In the West Bank, the economy is improving, law and order are maintained, the Palestinian Authority is fighting Hamas, Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation is growing, and mobility for the population is increasing. In recent months Israel removed more checkpoints and expanded the hours of the Allenby Bridge to Jordan. It isn't paradise, but it isn't Gaza either. The way for the Palestinians to get a state is to go ahead and build it. If and when the institutions are there and functioning, from police and courts to a parliament, negotiations will reflect that fact. The argument that settling the borders and removing Israeli troops must come first is a path to failure. Israel will not and should not leave until it is clear that the West Bank will not be a source of terrorism against Israel, as Gaza and South Lebanon became when Israel left there. Such a practical approach would enhance the status and power of Palestinian moderates who are working to improve life in the West Bank, rather than enhancing the status and power of old PLO officials who thrive on endless, useless negotiating sessions. It would put a premium on practical Israeli-Palestinian cooperation, rather than elevating precisely the final status questions that most bitterly divide them. It would increase the gap between the West Bank and Gaza, thereby showing Palestinians that Hamas rule brings only despair and poverty. The writer, former deputy national security adviser handling Middle Eastern affairs in the George W. Bush administration, is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
2009-11-10 06:00:00
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