BASSAM TAWIL
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has repeatedly spoken of the need for a "pathway" for the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.
According to Blinken, a Palestinian state would have two positive effects: First, it would pave the way for a normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and second, it would "isolate" Iran and its terrorist proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
This is the same Blinken who has put pressure on Israel to refrain from a military operation to destroy the remaining four Hamas battalions in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. If the battalions are not destroyed, it means that Hamas will remain in power and that Israel will, by default, lose the war. Hamas would be able to rebuild its military and, as it has vowed, will repeat the October 7 attack, time and again, until Israel is annihilated.
In addition, a Hamas victory would catapult the terror group's power and popularity among Palestinians, as well as Hezbollah, the Houthis and other terrorist groups. A Hamas victory would accurately be seen globally as proof that terrorism not only works but is rewarded.
A Hamas victory would also definitively seal the chances of Iran and Qatar continuing to control the Palestinian state that Blinken is so keen to establish - as is seemingly the Biden administration's intent.
Opinion polls conducted by Palestinian organizations have repeatedly shown that a majority of Palestinians vastly prefer Hamas to the Palestinian Authority's ruling Fatah faction of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Shortly after Hamas's October 7 atrocities, 57% of respondents in the Gaza Strip and 82% in the West Bank said the terrorist group was "correct" to launch the attack.
"The work that Saudi Arabia, the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think, is potentially very close to completion," Blinken said during a recent visit to the Saudi capital of Riyadh. "But then in order to move forward with normalization, two things will be required -- calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state."
Saudi Arabia and the US are reportedly working on the details of an agreement to boost bilateral trade and defense ties - but a deal will not happen unless the kingdom and Israel establish diplomatic ties, US officials say.
The US argument is that a defense pact would solidify the seven-decade security alliance between Saudi Arabia and the US, tying the two countries ever closer together as US adversaries such as Iran, Russia and China seek to expand their influence in the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters earlier this year after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Blinken tried to claim that the region faces two paths. The first is "to integrate Israel, with security guarantees and commitments from the countries of the region and also the United State and [the second is] to create a Palestinian state -- at least a path that leads to that state."
Blinken added that, in his view, strengthening Israel's security and creating a Palestinian state would be the best way to thwart attacks by Iran's regional proxies such as Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis and various militias that have carried out attacks on US and foreign interests in Syria and Iraq.
By establishing a link between Israeli-Saudi normalization and the establishment of a Palestinian state, Blinken would also give the Palestinians a veto right on any peace deal between Israel and an Arab country.
Many Arab countries, of course, have already demonstrated that they are capable of making peace with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Blinken's claim that a Palestinian state would "isolate" Iran and its proxies is pure nonsense. The opposite is the case. Iran, its proxies and Qatar would doubtless be extremely happy if the Biden administration would allow them to establish a terrorist state on Israel's doorstep. This state would be used by Iran and its terrorists as a launching pad for more October 7-style massacres of Israelis to further their goal of destroying first Israel, then the Arab states.
It is Israel -- not Iran -- that will find itself "isolated" and surrounded by Iran-backed Islamist terrorist groups thirsting for Jewish blood.
Blinken's claim that establishing a Palestinian state would bring security and stability to the Middle East is, to put it as nicely as possible, counterfactual.
Palestinians had an independent Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip since 2005. In 2007, Hamas overthrew the ruling Palestinian Authority in Gaza and took full control there. At the time Palestinian Authority security officers were dragged into the streets and lynched, while another was thrown to his death from the roof of a high building.
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