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What Will a Palestinian State Look Like?

[AmbassadorBlog] Edward Walker - Will the Palestinian state look like Gaza under Hamas? If that is the expectation, then it is not very likely that negotiations on the final status, even if started, would ever result in an agreement. Israel will not accept a hostile, independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, nor should it. The Israelis will have to have a high degree of confidence that once a Palestinian state is established, it will not become a launching pad for attacks on Israel. Certainly, the Palestinian record thus far does not fill one with confidence. The divided polity, the clinging to rhetoric instead of reality, the record of corruption in the Palestinian Authority, and failure to govern effectively even in areas where the Authority has sway, creates the expectation of failure, instability, and continued hostility toward Israel as the path of least resistance. Now the Palestinian Authority is advancing a new approach in a document entitled "Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State" published in August 2009, that sets out the objectives of the PA government for the next two years as a "full commitment to this state-building endeavor." It remains to be seen if Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad can deliver on the vision and reform. But it is virtually certain that without such an effort on the part of the Palestinians, there will be no peace agreement, no Palestinian state, and no respite from terrorism. The writer has served as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel, and as Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East.
2009-09-14 08:00:00
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