Reforming the Palestinian Authority Will Take a Lot More Than a New Prime Minister

Feb. 28 2024

Commenting on the recent resignation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet—while the octogenarian president Mahmoud Abbas continues to show no interest in stepping down—and Western pressure for reform, Ghaith al-Omari writes:

In the longer term, the presence of a reformed, capable PA is also necessary for achieving a two-state solution or even taking steps in that direction. Otherwise, the outcome would likely be another failed state in a region rife with such destabilizing models. Two questions will determine whether these conditions are met. First, will the new prime minister be empowered to undertake the necessary reforms? . . . The more independent Shtayyeh’s replacement is, the more confidence there will be in the prime minister’s ability to confront Abbas and senior Fatah figures, many of whom will likely try to undermine meaningful reform.

Second, who will control the cabinet-formation process? . . .

Recent polls indicate that around 60 percent of Palestinians want to dissolve the PA and around 90 percent want Abbas to resign. Appointing a new prime minister may not be enough to fix this wider legitimacy problem, especially if there are doubts about the next cabinet’s independence and empowerment.

Besides all this, both Palestinians and Israelis would be better off if the PA stopped its constant incitement against Jews and Israel and its policy of rewarding terrorism with cash.

Read more at Washington Institute for Near East Policy

More about: Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority

The Democratic Party Is Losing Its Grip on Jews

Since the 1930s, Jews have been one of America’s most solidly Democratic ethnic groups. Although, true to form, a majority again voted for Kamala Harris, something clearly has shifted. John Podhoretz writes:

Over the course of the past thirteen months, Jews in America have been harassed, threatened, seen their ancestral homeland derided as a settler-colonial genocidal state. They have seen Jewish kids mistreated on college campuses. And they have seen the Biden administration kowtow to Muslim populations hostile to Jews and the Jewish state in Michigan. They have heard the criticisms of Israel’s efforts to defend itself, and have noted the silence from the administration when it came to anti-Semitic assaults and the refusal of college presidents to condemn the treatment of Jews and Jewish topics under their ambit.

And Jews have acted.

The initial evidence from last night’s election is that there has been a significant shift in the Jewish vote from previous elections, a delta of anywhere from 10 to 40 percent overall.

Read more at Commentary

More about: 2024 Election, American Jewry, Anti-Semitism, Democrats, U.S. Politics