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Making a Palestinian State Less Likely
(Wall Street Journal) Editorial - The Gaza aid crunch is starting to abate, as local prices fall. Why are Gazans paying for aid at all? The West has long insisted that recognition follow the creation of a Palestinian state, not precede it. And to create such a state, the Palestinians would have to agree to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Otherwise, a state would merely be a base from which to expand the fighting. No one should want the West Bank to become another Gaza, devoted to sacrificing its people in perpetual war against Israel. Reveling in French, UK and Canadian plans to recognize a state of Palestine, Hamas has hardened its position and rejected new ceasefire talks. The good news is that the decisions that matter aren't made in Paris, London or Ottawa. No Palestinian state is coming because the PA is weak, corrupt and intransigent, and Hamas wants to kill every Jew. International recognition can serve as a launchpad for legal warfare against Israel. But by showing Hamas that war works when fought cynically enough, and by showing the PA that it need never compromise, it pushes Palestinian statehood further away.