Israel Wants to Build Palestinian Institutions Before Statehood

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article today outlining the different approaches Bibi’s government and the Obama administration want to take to progress the Palestinian peace talks.

Netanyahu is willing to start immediate talks, but wants to focus on building up the Palestinians before a new country is declared. Economic and social issues would prevent an independent Palestinian state from succeeding in the long run. With a massive unemployment rate and virtually no economy, the PA is still heavily reliant on Israel for all infrastructure and the majority of security needs.

If these issues could be addressed, the Palestinians would be much better off. If the $3 billion that had been intended for PA aid had not made its way to Yasser Arafat’s bank account, the Palestinians might have a good working power plant and water system in the West Bank today. I witnessed something quite different in Northern Israel. A pipe was built from an Israeli home on a hilltop down to a village below. That was their water source.

I think Obama has great intentions, but he needs to focus on the symptoms before he can diagnose a cure.