Fatah rally in 2009
Fatah rally in 2009Israel news photo, Flash 90

Palestinian Authority officials are working on several fronts to achieve a Palestinian state without negotiations over conditions for a peace agreement with Israel. These efforts include:

  • Building institutions: PA interior minister Saed Abu Ali told the Al-Hayat newspaper, “In the framework of our political activity… we are building our state-to-be, and [the institutions] will turn it into an existing fact that will receive international recognition, and we are working with the world’s countries to end the occupation.”

    Among the most important institutions being built for this purpose are the security forces, Abu Ali said. Instead of relying on one charismatic and somewhat dictatorial personality, such as Jibril Rajoub or Muhammed Dahlan, the chairman of the PA – Mahmoud Abbas – is the final authority, and he meets with the heads of the forces each week. “It is not their job to maintain Israel’s security,” Abu Ali emphasized, “but rather to fulfill the PA’s diplomatic obligations.” In this connection, he said that extremist Muslims associated with Al-Qaeda have been arrested. He noted, too, that 250 Hamas prisoners are being held in PA jails.

  • PA elements are also encroaching on Israeli land in Judea and Samaria. The area has been divided into three zones: Area A, in which the PA has full control; Area C, in which Israel has full control; and Area B, where Israel controls military matters and the PA is responsible administratively. Attempting to create "facts on the ground" in all of Judea and Samaria, the PA often builds, with foreign support, in Area C.

    For instance, a giant Arab stadium is nearly completed between Ramallah and the Jewish town of Psagot – in Area C. Stop-work and demolition orders have been issued on the giant structure, which is being funded by Germany and FIFA, but none have been implemented. The residents of Psagot are outraged, asking rhetorically, “What will stop the thousands of fans from taking out their frustration after a loss from descending onto the Jewish houses of Psagot?”

  • Mahmoud Abbas continues to travel around the world to garner support for a PA state. He was in Paris this week, where just before, France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told a French newspaper over the weekend that he could envision the recognition of a Palestinian state even before its borders are drawn up. "One can envision the proclamation soon of a Palestinian state, and its immediate recognition by the international community, even before negotiating its borders," Kouchner said.

  • Abbas is also scheduled to meet in the coming days with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. The visits are intended to build regional support for recognition of a Palestinian state in Yesha, and for a total halt on Israeli settlement construction as a condition for the PA to agree to resume peace talks with Israel.

    Israel rejects the idea of foreign countries recognizing a PA state without a negotiated peace agreement. "Imposing this kind of semblance of a partial solution from outside goes against the very idea of peace," a senior Israeli official told the French news agency AFP. "Granting recognition when the issues of the conflict have not been settled would add fuel to the fire. This would only push the Palestinians to be even more intransigent and thus make any compromise impossible.”

  • If all else fails, the PA, whose forces initiated several intifadas against Israel and which continues to incite against Israel in its schools and via its media, has not abandoned the idea of violence and terrorism. Abbas told the French daily Le Monde on Friday, "For the moment, we are controlling the situation ... If people don't believe that the future will bring them a Palestinian state, if there is an obstacle, I fear they will return to violence.”

Netanyahu: PA State Must be Demilitarized

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has agreed to recognize a demilitarized Palestinian state if it recognizes Israel as the land of the Jewish people. Any other type of arrangement, many experts feel, would lead to the formation of yet another hostile, if not terrorist, political entity on Israel’s doorstep.

In his speech at Bar Ilan University last June, Netanyahu explained:

"Any area in Palestinian hands has to be demilitarized, with solid security measures. Without this condition, there is a real fear that there will be an armed Palestinian state which will become a terrorist base against Israel, as happened in Gaza. We do not want missiles on Petah Tikva, or Grads [Katyushas] on Ben Gurion International Airport. We want peace.

"And, to ensure peace, we don't want them to bring in missiles or rockets or have an army, or control of airspace, or make treaties with countries like Iran, or Hizbullah. There is broad agreement on this in Israel. We cannot be expected to agree to a Palestinian state without ensuring that it is demilitarized. This is crucial to the existence of Israel. We must provide for our security needs.



"This is why we are now asking our friends in the international community, headed by the USA, for what is necessary for our security, that in any peace agreement, the Palestinian area must be demilitarized. No army, no control of air space. Real effective measures to prevent arms coming in – not what's going on now in Gaza. The Palestinians cannot make military treaties. Without this, sooner or later, we will have another Hamastan. We can't agree to this. Israel must govern its own fate and security."