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The Palestinian Authority: On a Journey to Nowhere

(Jerusalem Strategic Tribune) Kobi Michael and Ori Wertman - Nearly three decades after its establishment, despite flickers of hope for reform, the Palestinian Authority is advancing nowhere; it offers no prospect of real change and is increasingly losing the remnants of its legitimacy. The manifest weakness of Mahmoud Abbas' leadership - and the PA's failures in the field of governance - pose for Israel a poor choice between sub-optimal conflict management, the alternative of localized centers of power, or the dangerous rise to dominance of more radical elements. The basic drivers for these failures can be found in the PA's own conduct. The main one is the failure of the Palestinian leadership to carry out the necessary transition from a national liberation organization that was characterized by many as a terrorist organization, to a real and painstaking process of state-building. Yet the political conduct of the Palestinian leadership in the institutional, economic, and social dimensions did not significantly change from the days of exile in Tunisia. Dr. Kobi Michael is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, where Dr. Ori Wertman is a research fellow.
2022-06-16 00:00:00
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