Daily Alert Archives

Do Palestinians Really Want a State of Their Own?

(Foreign Policy) Oren Kessler - The Palestinians have all the leverage, a former top State Department specialist on the Mideast peace process recently told me. "I'm not sure they'll ever sign on the dotted line." The Palestinians are under little to no pressure to sign a final peace agreement with Israel. It's actually the Israelis, not the Palestinians, who are under pressure from all corners to reach a peace deal. The Palestinians, meanwhile, are watching from the sidelines with glee. Viewers of the Palestinian Authority's official television station are unceasingly reminded that the Arab-Israeli conflict is an existential, zero-sum dispute. The channel assures its audience that cities in Israel will ultimately return to Arab rule and that the murder of Israeli civilians is a heroic deed. And that's not to speak of the fire-eyed theocrats of Hamas, who run the show in Gaza. The U.S. does have ways to influence the Palestinians to negotiate seriously - if only it is willing to use them. Washington is the single biggest donor to the PA, and Congress could condition U.S. aid on stopping all the incitement. Washington, as well as the world, does the Palestinians no favors in forever excusing their failure to better their lot.
2014-03-11 00:00:00
Full Article