#Don’t look to the Palestinian Authority for good governance

The Oct. 7 terrorist massacre in southern Israel made it all too clear that Hamas must go. But after it is gone, who will take the helm in Gaza? 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented that Gaza’s administration “must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.” Secretary Blinken and the Biden administration should think again.

Over the course of 11 days from May into June 2023, I spent hours in conversation with Palestinian Authority leaders. I had been selected to join a group of 30 undergraduates from Yale and West Point on a trip to Israel and the West Bank, part of the schools’ joint Peace and Dialogue Leadership Initiative. Trips like these offer Palestinian leaders an opportunity to court impressionable, young American students. The presentations from Palestinian Authority officials were as revealing as the living conditions we saw throughout the West Bank. The Palestinian people are being used as pawns by the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. must proceed with caution or risk substituting one corrupt authority with another.

Many Palestinians live in appalling conditions. In Bethlehem, I watched a little girl weave through moving cars to get to school — no crosswalks or traffic lights in sight. Even in areas that seem economically secure, infrastructure is severely lacking. Walking down an alley in Ramallah, I saw plastic tubing cracking along the side of an apartment building, causing precious water to gush onto the dusty road. 

I pressed the political leaders with whom we met to understand how this could be the reality for many Palestinians. The authorities who acted as our hosts emphasized the misfortunes of their people, but they took no responsibility themselves. In fact, the extent of their seeming indifference is astonishing. 

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that between 1994 and 2020, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has received more than $40 billion in international aid. The Biden administration dedicated $316 million just last year to supporting Palestinians. When I asked a Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah where American funding for the PA goes, he responded by saying that the U.S. does not provide any support at all. Algeria, he claimed, is the only country that offers financial aid. 

When I asked another leader in Jericho about the Palestinian Authority’s practice of financially supporting the families of suicide bombers and other incapacitated terrorists (“martyrs,” as they are commonly referred to by Palestinians), he did not deny it. Rather, he insisted that the alternative was to let those families suffer. Incentivizing terrorism never sounded so innocent. 

The Palestinian Authority blames the weak infrastructure in their territories on the “Israeli occupation,” claiming that Israel cruelly restricts their ability to provide for their own citizens. In a private meeting, one former Palestinian Authority official called this the “drip effect.” Israel, he argued, provides the Palestinians with just enough resources to survive, but never to thrive.

But Israel coordinates with the PA to ensure security and basic provisions. In 2021, for example, Israel lent the Palestinian Authority more than $150 million. Moreover, the impoverished streets through which I walked are not governed by Israel at all. Under the Oslo II Accord of 1995, the Palestinian Authority has complete control of Area A of the West Bank, and thus bears responsibility for providing basic resources and infrastructure. The responsibility falls to the PA, but it refuses to assume any. And despite relying on Israel, the Palestinian Authority continually demonizes it.  

During the visit, we also saw two Palestinian refugee camps. These “camps” are not tent camps but rather large cement buildings. A Palestinian journalist informed me that the residents could leave at any point if they wished. So why, I asked, do most stay? 

The answer lies in the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the only UN organization dedicated to a single refugee population — Palestinians. Every other refugee population is dealt with through the central United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The UNRWA definition of “refugee,” however, includes “the descendants of Palestine refugee males,” whereas the UNHCR does not include any descendants of refugees. Refugee populations typically decline over time, whether naturally or by resettlement. Palestinian refugees are unique in that they can retain refugee status in perpetuity, over the course of generations.

Furthermore, UNRWA defines a refugee camp as a “plot of land placed at the disposal of UNRWA by the host government.” This means that the Palestinian Authority can dedicate plots of land to UNRWA, designate them as refugee camps and demand that UNRWA provide those areas with hospitals, schools and distribution centers. Thus, the Palestinian Authority advocates for the perpetuation of these “camps,” which conveniently free them from any responsibility of spending public monies or outside aid on services that Palestinians need. 

This has led to unintended consequences. A Palestinian leader in Jericho informed us that the refugee camp in his city has become a hotbed for terrorist activity. Jenin’s refugee camps now house multiple terrorist groups, including Hamas. If the Palestinian Authority cannot prevent Hamas from infiltrating its own cities in the West Bank, why would it be any different in Gaza?

Over the course of our trip, the aims of the Palestinian Authority leadership were unmistakable. An official in Ramallah spoke of his desire for a new world order with a focus on China. Others expressed a wish for more American dollars; all disparaged Israel for grievances, both real and imagined, despite relying on Israel for basic needs. 

The Palestinian Authority is hardly willing to accept any blame for the afflictions of its own constituents, from poverty to medical neglect to the threat of terrorism among “refugees.” The leaders with whom we met repeatedly sidestepped our questions about dealing with violence among Palestinians, whether in streets, refugee camps or universities. 

As Israel and its allies consider the future of Gaza and Palestinian leadership, they would be wise to take the Palestinian Authority’s own words and actions seriously. Gaza will require a new vision — one that leaves behind the Palestinian Authority’s corruption and oppression of the Palestinian people.

Gabriel Diamond is a senior at Yale University studying political science and a research assistant at Yorktown Institute.