The 'Palestinians' don't want a state
Laura Rozen posts what is apparently a translation of a column by Nachum Barnea that appeared in Monday's Yediot Aharonot. I don't agree with Barnea that we should force the 'Palestinians' to accept an interim state (the last thing we should be doing is giving them land in exchange for an agreement that would lack an end of conflict provision), but what he says about the 'Palestinians' not wanting a state is spot-on. Yaari’s basic assumption is that the Palestinians do not really want a state, not if it entails resigning themselves to dividing the land. The Palestinian strategy is to collapse into the arms of Israel. From Israel’s perspective, that is disastrous. It must force them to establish a state. Since they are incapable of signing a comprehensive agreement, they must be compelled to establish a state as part of an interim agreement.
It appears that Yaari’s basic assumption is correct. Abu Mazen and his colleagues in Fatah are missing two vital ingredients for the establishment of a state—willingness to impose painful concessions, and the desire and ability to take responsibility for everything that the day-to-day running of a state requires. The only one in the Palestinian leadership who is working seriously in this direction is Salam Fayyad. It is no accident that he is not a member of Fatah. It is no accident that he sees David Ben-Gurion, rather than Yasser Arafat, as a model to emulate. ....
Abu Mazen does not want a Palestinian state. He is willing, perhaps, to accept it on a silver platter, but he is not willing to pay the required price for it. Netanyahu does not want a Palestinian state either. He is willing to support the idea for public-relations reasons, but is not willing to pay the required price. And perhaps both of them have come secretly to the recognition that it is too late. The die has been cast....
Israel Matzav: The 'Palestinians' don't want a state
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