In one of the most surprising foreign policy speeches ever delivered by an American president, George W. Bush addressed the world from the White House Rose Garden and suggested the Palestinian people overthrow their leader Yasser Arafat. He declared, “I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror. I call upon them to build a practicing democracy, based on tolerance and liberty…when the Palestinian people have new leaders, new institutions and new security arrangements with their neighbors, the United States of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state whose borders and certain aspects of its sovereignty will be provisional until resolved as part of a final settlement in the Middle East.”
Since Bush’s landmark speech 21 years ago, every American president has mirrored his promise of American support for a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Every American administration has supported the creation of a third Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria – in addition to the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip and the Kingdom of Jordan, which is over 75% Palestinian, under the governance of the Palestinian Authority.
In a recent op-ed, US President Joe Biden maintained his support for a Palestinian state ruled by the Palestinian Authority. He wrote, “As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately objected, saying, “I think that the Palestinian Authority in its current form is not capable of accepting the responsibility for Gaza after we’ve fought and done all this, to pass it to them.”
A forgotten tenet of American support for the Palestinian Authority is the need for the Palestinian Authority to become a democracy that shares values with other Western-minded nations. America has consistently demanded the Palestinian Authority move from terrorism to peace. As former Secretary of State John Kerry said, “We have called for the Palestinians to do everything in their power to stop violence and incitement, including publicly and consistently condemning acts of terrorism and stopping the glorification of violence.” There has been no indication that Kerry’s call was ever answered.
The basis for the hope that the Palestinian Authority can be entrusted to govern a Palestinian state in Gaza and portions of Judea and Samaria/the West Bank is that it can rule effectively, rid itself of corruption, and stop its support of terrorism. It is also predicated on the assumption that the Palestinian Authority, its leaders, and its people will be Israel’s partners for peace. Unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority and its leadership have given no indication that they’re interested in peace with Israel.
The example of Taylor Force
THE STORY of Taylor Force is instructive for our times. Force was an American hero. He was a graduate of the New Mexico Military Institute and West Point. He served multiple times as an officer in the United States army in Afghanistan and Iraq. As an MBA candidate at Vanderbilt University, he visited Israel as part of a study group examining global entrepreneurship. Force was walking on a street in Tel Aviv, coincidentally just a mile from where then-Vice President Joe Biden was having dinner on his own visit to Israel, when a Palestinian murdered him in an act of brutal terrorism.
Force’s parents were incensed when they learned that relatives of the murderer of their son would be receiving a monthly stipend because their family member had died while committing an act of terror. The same Palestinian Authority that the world hopes will govern peacefully in Gaza gives a higher monthly stipend to terrorists than the average monthly salary in Palestinian areas governed by the Palestinian Authority. This program has been dubbed the “Pay to Slay program.” The Force family understood that American tax dollars, including their own tax dollars, were being given to the Palestinian Authority and passed on to terrorists, according to the program. The Forces lobbied Congress to ban American tax dollars aiding the Palestinian Authority, and in 2019, the US passed laws prohibiting American aid from going to the Palestinian Authority until pay to slay is ended.
Corruption is so high in the Palestinian Authority that it has disqualified itself as a legitimate governing institution. A report from the Council of Foreign Relations states, “The judiciary and the prosecution in the West Bank and Gaza Strip continue to lack independence... Appointments at higher posts continued without transparency or fair competition, in disregard for the principle of equal opportunity. No job announcements were published in the newspapers, nor were there any competitions over appointments... Influential persons in senior positions were granted tax and customs exemptions without legal basis for approval. The amount of wasted funds is enormous.” It is absurd to think that an institution this corrupt could effectively govern more territory.
This month, the Palestinian Authority released a document that should have convinced the world not to place any hope in its ability to govern or be a partner in peace with Israel. The Palestinian Authority released a statement claiming that, according to preliminary Israeli police investigations, Hamas was not to blame for the October 7 massacre and that Israel carried out the attacks against its own people. Israel is blaming Hamas, according to the Palestinian statement, in order to justify its aggression against Gaza. Netanyahu said the statement was “not acceptable and not the way to achieve peace.” Even opposition leader Yair Lapid backed Netanyahu’s “condemnation of the abominable and false announcement by the PA Foreign Ministry. Those who deny the massacre make themselves complicit in the worst crime against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
Biden’s dream of a “revitalized Palestinian Authority” that could effectively govern the Gaza Strip and Palestinian-controlled territories in Judea and Samaria is unrealistic and the dreams of fantasy. In its 30-year history, the Palestinian Authority has passed on multiple opportunities to sign a peace deal with Israel and clean its own house. Partnering with the violent and corrupt Palestinian Authority after the war has ended is out of the question.
The writer is a certified interfaith hospice chaplain in Jerusalem and the mayor of Mitzpe Yeriho, Israel. She lives with her husband and six children.