The debate on Gaza “the day after” Hamas has been defeated is heating up. One often-mentioned option is that the Palestinian Authority (PA) should take responsibility for the Gaza Strip and its two million residents. US President Joe Biden and his administration, several European countries, and some Israeli politicians have stated that this is their preferred option. At the heart of the debate are security considerations – whether the PA has the capabilities to suppress Gaza terrorists and ensure Israel’s security.
But there is another aspect that is also important. Is the PA, as a governing body, capable of providing the citizens of Gaza with even the most basic of services expected of any government? The PA has already shown itself to be a failed administration. “Revitalizing” has been unsuccessful in the past, again and again. Assigning it the responsibility for an additional two million Palestinians would be a grievous mistake.
The PA was established under the Oslo Accords in 1994. Over the years, it has received full civic responsibility for the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, along with partial security responsibility. Throughout the past three decades, the PA has been unable to provide security either to its residents or to Israelis. In several periods, members of its security organizations were complicit in terrorism against Israel. But its colossal failure is also reflected in its civic ineptitude.
Upon receiving responsibility and territory, the PA was expected to establish effective governing mechanisms and functioning institutions – judicial, legislative, and executive authorities – that would form the backbone of a future Palestinian state. Thirty years later, the PA’s performance in this regard has been very poor and has contributed almost nothing to the establishment of a future state.
The Palestinian political system has been completely paralyzed for almost two decades. Since its establishment, the PA has held just two rounds of elections; the last was in 2005, and Hamas gained a parliamentary majority. Hamas then took over the Gaza Strip by force and, in just a few bloody days, ousted the PA. The terrorist group has controlled the Strip by force of arms ever since.
The PA is already dysfunctional in the West Bank
Even in the West Bank, the PA does not function politically. The Palestinian parliament rarely convenes. Although it is ostensibly a legislative body, it has enacted few laws. Most Palestinian law is regulated by decrees issued by the PA president, Mahmoud Abbas, and even those do not provide sufficient legal framework for day-to-day operations. Therefore, the Palestinians’ lives are conducted by a chaotic mixture of orders, customary laws, religious laws, Jordanian laws, Israeli laws, and international laws.
The PA has also been an economic failure. It has not been able to develop any significant economic sector other than local commerce, small industry, and agriculture, which barely meet the needs of the population. The GDP per capita under the PA was $3,460 in 2021, significantly lower than the regional average. The PA’s budget is only about four billion dollars a year, and its external debt is the same as its GDP.
The PA is rife with corruption. Most residents of the territory under its control (62%) believe that the level of corruption there is high. A quarter of them admit to giving bribes to PA employees in order to improve their circumstances. Reports examining PA corruption show the maleficence of the government mechanisms, from Abbas and his ministers down to the employees of the central government and local authorities. Accordingly, the PA operates with an almost total lack of transparency.
In actuality, the PA does not control the West Bank. The PA is unable to enforce the law in the West Bank, which is primarily under the control of clans and gangs that dominate its various regions. Even so, the PA presents itself to the world as a functioning body. In practice, it has long been crippled, enfeebled, and hollow.
The PA’s failure is also a result of the complex reality in which it operates. Israel’s control of parts of the West Bank and its borders affects this reality in a variety of ways. But even with this constraint, the PA could have done much more to establish itself as a functioning governing body and as the basis for a future Palestinian state. Therefore, it is not surprising that, according to a survey published in recent days, only 10% of West Bank and Gaza residents place any trust in the Palestinian Authority. Hamas, unfortunately, enjoys the confidence of 75% of the Palestinian people.
That is why the PA is ill-suited to take over responsibility for the Gaza Strip after Hamas is defeated. The proper solution is an international body that will take responsibility in the first stage and the establishment of a Palestinian governing body in Gaza that will provide appropriate services to the Strip’s residents in the second stage. Israeli security control in the territory must continue for the long term.
The writer is vice president of the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), a lecturer in law at the Peres Academic Center, and a former head of international law at the Mossad.