Creating the Palestinian Politics of Tomorrow

I am writing this piece with great trepidation. I know that I will be attacked by some Palestinians, even friends and colleagues for intervening in an internal Palestinian matter. They will say that once again that the occupation is telling us what to do. Some will say that the only solution is for you Jews to go back where you came from. The reality is that we Jewish Israeli and you Palestinian Arabs share the same narrow piece of land. We are here in more or less equal numbers. Both of us have an undeniable deep historic and religious connection to this land. Both peoples are here to stay. The only solution to our more than 100 years’ war is we all recognize the national collective rights of both of us to live in a free, democratic, nation state based on mutual dignity and respect – side-by-side – on the land between the River and the Sea. I am not intervening in internal Palestinian matters; I am trying to analyze and suggest a path forward for the Palestinian people because of the interdependence that exists between the political systems and the politics of both sides. What Israel does and what Israel does not do, what Israeli leaders say and what they don’t say have great impacts on Palestine. What Palestine does and what it does not do, what Palestinian leaders say and what they do not say have deep impacts on Israel. That is our reality and therefore, we not only have a right to suggest steps that can positively impact both of our people, we have a responsibility to do it. Some will say: worry about your own side – the messed up Israeli politics. If Israel agrees to end the occupation there is no problem for Israel any longer.  I do what I can on the Israeli side as well to repair our broken country. But I have been engaged with Palestinians and Palestinian politics for more than four decades.  Much of what I am writing here I have heard from Palestinian friends and colleagues and have read in the Palestinian media. I think that just as I, an Israeli, am writing this piece about internal Palestinian politics, not as a critique, but as a plan with a vision of a future of peace between us, I call on Palestinians to write similar articles regarding Israeli politics. 

In the letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to French President Macron and to Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman on June 9, 2025, President Abbas’ made a commitment to hold democratic and transparent general and presidential elections throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, within a year. Abbas emphasized that the elections would be held under international auspices, enabling democratic competition between Palestinian actors committed to respect the PLO political platform, its international commitments and the relevant UN resolutions, and the principle of "One State, One Government, One Law and One Gun", and allowing for a new generation of elected representatives to take responsibility. Abbas furthermore stated a firm condemnation of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks. He called for Hamas to immediately release all hostages. Abbas made a commitment to establish a demilitarized Palestinian state, explicitly stating that the Government of the State of Palestine would be the sole provider of security in its territory and that it would not be a militarized state. Abbas also said that the Palestinians would invite Arab and international stabilization/protection forces under a UN mandate to come to Gaza. Abbas’s letter was a firm reaffirmation of the Palestinian commitment to the two‑state solution and a clear political roadmap toward statehood. Perhaps the most important statements in the letter concerned a commitment to address the need for deep reform in the Palestinian education system reflecting the desire of Palestine to live in peace with Israel, and an end to the system whereby Palestinians convicted of terrorism against Israelis receive generous salaries from the Palestinian government.

Admittedly Abbas enjoy little public legitimacy in Palestine, having been elected way back in 2005 and he is now 90 years old. I would suggest seeing this letter signed by Abbas as his last and final national duty to the Palestinian people. Abbas should not even think about competing in the upcoming Palestinian elections. His legacy should be the contents of this letter to Macron and Bin Salman. This is the legacy and can significantly give momentum to the implementation of the two states solution, and the actual birth of the State of Palestine. Palestinian elections are crucial because it is essential that the Palestinian people determine their own political course for the years to come. The results of the elections will determine if the Palestinian people have come to the conclusion that the armed struggle, the armed resistance have become a non-viable strategy. The results of the elections will determine if the Palestinian people have come to the conclusion that the most important people they need to address, after their own people, are the Israeli public. Palestinians will find that if they send a clear message to themselves and to the world that the States of Palestine is a State seeking peace with its neighbors, this will significantly impact Israeli public opinion and future Israeli elections. As stated in the Palestinian Declaration of Independence from November 15, 1988 written by Mahmoud Darwish and declared by Yasser Arafat: The State of Palestine proclaims its commitment to the principles and purposes of the United Nations, and to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights… It further announces itself to be a peace-loving state, in adherence to the principles of peaceful co-existence. It will join with all states and peoples in order to assure a permanent peace based upon justice and the respect of rights so that humanity's potential for well-being may be assured, an earnest competition for excellence be maintained, and in which confidence in the future will eliminate fear for those who are just and for whom justice is the only recourse.

If Palestinian elections are held prior to the elections in Israel, and if the results of those elections send a clear message to Israel and to the world that the Palestinian people are dedicated to ensuring that the State of Palestine is a peaceful state seeking peace with the State of Israel on the basis of the two states solution, this would have a deep impact on the Israeli electorate and would ensure that Israeli elections will be totally focused on the issue of peace with the Palestinians based on two states for two peoples. Yes, this is an instrumental tool for me aimed at making sure that we have a positive outcome in the next Israeli elections, but it is also instrumental in ensuring that the war in Gaza will be the last Israeli-Palestinian war.

From my own understanding of Palestinian politics and Palestinian public opinion polls over the past 20 years, it seems evident to me that a majority of Palestinians do not want Fatah or Hamas. These political movements are the politics of the past, along with the PFLP, DFLP, and other small insignificant political movements within the PLO. In fact, the PLO itself is the politics of yesteryear. The next Palestinian elections must be for the President and Parliament of the State of Palestine. If you want an independent state then you have to act like an independent state. That means that you don’t ask Israel permission to hold elections, you don’t ask Israel for permission for Palestinians from East Jerusalem to vote, or for Palestinians from Gaza to vote. This is not an issue in which the Israelis have no say. It is a Palestinian issue and a Palestinian decision. East Jerusalem is the largest Palestinian city in Palestine with about 400,000 residents. The State of Israel has no right to determine if Palestinians in Jerusalem can take part in the elections. There are many ways to enable voting even if Israel decides to try and block the elections. I won’t go into that now, but the Palestinian Central Elections committee knows very well how this can be done and many countries around the world will be willing to assist in the smooth and transparent elections for the Government of the State of Palestine.

Even though Fatah and Hamas are the politics of the past, they most likely will not decide to relegate themselves to history as the Israeli Labour Party did. Hamas, as Hamas will not be allowed to participate in the elections because they reject the idea of the two states solution and they are still an armed militia within Palestine. There could be a new Islamic political party that accepts peace with Israel and still voices positions regarding the importance of Islam in the life of the State of Palestine. The Israeli Islamic movement under Mansour Abbas is an example of a legitimate peaceful expression of Islamic politics. Fatah could reform itself by bringing in new, younger voices and see to it that the senior citizens, old men, who dominate Palestinian politics retain their status as former senior statesmen now retired from active political life. The Palestinian election law already includes a 25% quota for women, the law should be amended so that the 25% are not at the bottom of the list, but that they will actually be in positions to get elected. There is no doubt that the entrance of a large number of Palestinian women into Palestinian politics will have a deep and lasting positive impact on Palestinian political culture and on the future of the State of Palestine.

What is most important is that Palestinian political parties and Palestinian leaders present a realistic vision for the future of Palestine living in peace and dignity with the State of Israel. Slogans such as “from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” will be a huge disservice to the Palestinian people keeping alive the false hope that Israel will disappear. I assume that political parties that support the armed struggle will not be allowed to compete in the elections. Democracies have a right and obligation to protect themselves from those who endanger the lives and the safety of the people and the State, as Hamas has done for too many years. The most important lesson that needs to be learned for Palestinians about the war in Gaza is that there is no viable Palestinian armed struggle that will liberate Palestine. In the Palestinian Declaration of Independence it clearly stated: It (The State of Palestine) calls upon all peace- and freedom-loving peoples and states to assist it in the attainment of its objectives, to provide it with security, to alleviate the tragedy of its people, and to help it terminate Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. In the political statement that followed the declaration it was clearly asserted that the goal was to establish the State of Palestine in the territories occupied by Israel in June 1967 and not the entire borders of historic Palestine. This was a great compromise made by Yasser Arafat and adopted by the Palestine National Council. But this was the adoption of politics of realism, agreeing to a Palestinian state on only 22% of the land of historic Palestine. Today, Palestine needs more than ever the politics of realism – that is the only way the horrors of occupation will end and the dream of freedom will become a reality.

Palestine needs good responsible governance.  That is what the people of Palestine want. A government responsive to the needs of the people. A government devoid of corruption, a government that will bring liberation, security and dignity to all Palestinians. The way to achieve that is by understanding that your decisions as Palestinians will impact the future decisions of Israel.  Remember, even if you get 192 member states of the United Nations to recognize the State of Palestine, the occupation will end and Palestine will be free only after Israel recognizes the State of Palestine. That is the politics of reality.

The people of Israel and the people of Palestine are forever linked together because we share the same homeland. We either continue to fight, kill and die together, or we find the way to live together – side-by-side in security, dignity, and peace. So don’t think that I am being an arrogant occupier by telling you how to live your lives or what decisions you need to make. I want the occupation to end. I want Palestine to be free. I want Palestinians to have security. I want happy and prosperous neighbors. I hope that you Palestinians want the same for me. So, my advice to you is not out of arrogance, it comes from the depths of my heart that I see the humanity in my neighbors and I want the suffering of all of us to end forever.