The Biden-Harris Administration, a 'Ceasefire' and a Palestinian State
by Alexander Maistrovoy • October 30, 2024 at 5:00 am
There seem to be several reasons for the Palestinians' reluctance to reach an agreement about a two-state solution, and a lasting end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
Any Palestinian leader who has recommended an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been denounced by his people as a traitor and killed. That outcome would seem quite a disincentive. As the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said, "Do you want me sitting up there having tea with Sadat?"
The donations that the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have received since 1993 could have turned the West Bank into a thriving area, and Gaza into a "New Singapore" or "Dubai on the Mediterranean," however, the leaders evidently had other priorities for that cash.
One aim of Abbas seems to be to preserve his own wealth, estimated at $100 million, and the prosperity of his sons, who own the largest businesses in the Palestinian Authority. If donors keep throwing gigantic amounts of money at one -- especially unconditionally -- why not take it?
In a situation where every attempt to achieve peace turns into another bloody war-experiment, most Israelis have apparently concluded that they would be better off without such a "peace".
From the point of view of many Palestinian Arabs, and even some Americans, Jews can return to the other countries that wanted to kill them.
At present, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, praised as "The Churchill of the Middle East," appears determined to disable Hamas and Hezbollah politically and militarily so they will not be able to threaten the security of Israelis again.
Even with a supposed "ceasefire deal," Sinwar's successor will no doubt release the hostages as slowly as possible to allow more time for the Palestinians to rearm.
For a ceasefire, Hamas -- probably also including Qatar and Iran -- is asking for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, far from the smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt. They are also asking for a "permanent ceasefire" -- meaning that they want the US administration and the international community to force Israel to stop fighting, but leave Hamas's leaders and terrorists free to rearm, regroup and ready to fight another day.
In 2023, Israel allowed extra work permits to the Gazans -- who then mapped out every house to attack, including "the names of the people, how many children they had and even which of them owned dogs."
At this point, whatever happens with a ceasefire or not, the region clearly does not seem ready for any kind of Palestinian state -- to say the least.
The Biden-Harris administration appears still obsessed with a supposed ceasefire and a Palestinian state.
President William Clinton, and, after him, President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry also tried to create a Palestinian state. Now President Joe Biden with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan seem to be trying to do it again.
Unfortunately, the plan for a "two-state solution" especially after the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, and the bombardments of Israel -- smaller than the state of New Jersey -- by Hezbollah virtually every day in since October 8, 2023, appears farther away than ever.
The "rehearsal" for a Palestinian state -- Palestinian independence since 2005 in the Gaza Strip -- has turned out to be a national security horror of the first order. Moreover, the Palestinians have always seemed less interested in having their own state than in eliminating the Israeli one.
