Daily Alert Archives

Complicity in Terror: Why Recognizing a Palestinian State Will Not Lead to Peace

(The Insider-Latvia) Dr. Dan Diker - Another Palestinian terror state in the hills of Judea and Samaria overlooking Israel's coastal plain would constitute a strategic threat to the State of Israel. Despite the devastating consequences of the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 50% of Palestinians still view Hamas's decision to launch that attack as "correct" - rising to 59% in the West Bank. 85% in the West Bank and 64% in Gaza oppose the disarmament of Hamas, rendering meaningless the Western precondition of demilitarization of a future Palestinian state. Western leaders' recognition rests upon the assumption that the "moderate" Palestinian Authority will govern any future state. Yet for three decades, the PA has spread blood libels against Jews and Israelis, promoted the financial incentivization of terror, and is guilty of massive corruption. Today, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is in the 20th year of his 4-year term, Palestinian polls show that 81% of Palestinians want Abbas to resign, yet Western leaders plan to empower his illegitimate government with statehood. Other than Ramallah, Abbas and his security forces do not even exert political control over the cities under the PA's formal jurisdiction. Instead, Iran's Hamas and Islamic Jihad proxy militias dominate PA cities and towns. If the PA cannot maintain order in cities under its supposed control, it would be hard-pressed to secure a sovereign state. Demilitarization agreements offer no solution. Oct. 7 was carried out with simple weapons - AK-47s, RPGs, and improvised explosives - that cannot be effectively monitored. The historical record demonstrates that international recognition of Palestinian statehood has consistently rewarded and encouraged terrorism rather than promoting peace. Following Arafat's 1988 PLO unilateral declaration of independence in Algiers, which was recognized by 78 countries, Palestinian terrorist attacks escalated dramatically. After the Oslo Accords, between 1994 and 2005, suicide bombings killed 735 Israelis and wounded 4,554, with attacks specifically targeting civilians on buses, in shopping centers, and in restaurants. A Palestinian state supported by scores of Western countries sends a clear message to extremists worldwide: terror pays, and the more heinous the act, the greater the diplomatic reward. The moral obligation currently rests on the Western powers to demand a complete remaking of Palestinian society and its leadership. Otherwise, it will likely not differentiate itself from the majority of Arab dictatorships in terms of human rights abuses, corruption, and a lack of democracy. The writer is President of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
2025-09-21 00:00:00
Full Article