All peoples have the inherent right to self-determination. This, of course, includes the Palestinian people. But not all peoples are ready for self-determination.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
This unfortunately also includes the Palestinian people. The Oslo Accords gave the Palestinians limited autonomy in the Gaza Strip and some of the territory comprising Judea and Samaria.
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, however, the Palestinians have not proved that they are capable of governing themselves in an effective and civil manner. Therefore, they are not ready for statehood.
Indeed, the Palestinians have not even been able to govern themselves within the limits of their current autonomy, so how can they be trusted to run an independent country?
The Palestinian Authority, which was tasked with governing the autonomous Palestinian enclaves by the Oslo Accords, has become a bastion of mismanagement, corruption and dictatorship.
But this is not the real reason that the Palestinians are not ready to govern themselves. After all, mismanagement, corruption and dictatorship are features of many governments around the world, especially in the Arab world.
The real reasons the Palestinians cannot be given an independent state at this time are twofold: The first reason is that they have not proved that they can exert effective control over their territory, which is one of the core requirements for the international community to recognize any new state.
This is evident in the fact that in 2007, the Islamist terrorist group Hamas took over the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority by force and have ruled over the territory ever since. Hence, the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized, legitimate leadership of the Palestinian people, do not even control the territory for which they have jurisdiction.
A functional, independent state needs to have one government that controls its territory, but since the Palestinians have so far been unable to achieve this, they cannot be granted independence.
The second reason that the Palestinians do not have a valid case for statehood at this time is because they pose a danger to their neighbors, namely the people of Israel.
The Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip have publicly and repeatedly said that they intend to destroy Israel.
The Palestinian Authority, under President Mahmoud Abbas, continues to pay lip service to the idea of coexistence, but in reality, they desire the exact opposite.
The PA continues to incite violence against Israelis and has done nothing to promote the idea of the State of Israel and a state of Palestine living side by side peacefully and securely. Granting the Palestinians independence would basically be like creating another Islamic Republic of Iran that would endanger the security, not just of Israel, but of other neighboring countries in the region.
It is possible to create an independent state of Palestine that is governed effectively and does not pose a danger to its neighbors but not by simply leaving the Palestinians to their own devices.
What if the Allied Powers had simply left Germany after defeating Hitler and the Nazis? Would the defeated Germans have then rebuilt their country into the model for peace, democracy and economic prosperity that it is today? Absolutely not.
Had the Allies withdrawn their forces from Germany after defeating and overthrowing the Nazi regime, it is almost certain that the Nazis would have returned to power and that Germany would once again pose a danger to the security of its neighbors. Inasmuch as the Germans could not be left alone to rebuild their country after World War II, the Palestinians cannot be left to build a state on their own either.
Germany is the peaceful, democratic and prosperous state that it is today because after the defeat of the Nazis, the Allies stayed in the country and made sure that it transitioned into a peaceful, genuine democracy. This is what needs to happen in the Palestinian territories.
Israel needs to reoccupy the territory ceded to the Palestinians under the Oslo Accords, dismantle the Palestinian Authority and remove the entire Palestinian leadership, the same way the Allies occupied Germany, dismantled the Nazi regime and removed its leaders.
Afterward, Israel must begin a process of de-radicalizing the Palestinians, just as the Allies began a policy of de-Nazification. Israel then needs to create new, democratic Palestinian institutions that she will gradually transfer power to.
The Allies did not hand full sovereignty back to the German people (or at least what became West Germany) until a decade had passed.
Moreover, even after the Allied occupation had ended, the new Federal Republic of Germany still had restrictions placed on their ability to exert military force. Similarly, it will probably take several years before Israel can safely grant the Palestinians full independence, and even then, restrictions on the Palestinians' ability to use military force will need to remain in place.
It is unlikely, however, that Israel could do in the Palestinian territories what the Allies did in Germany after World War II without the help of others. Therefore, the Jewish state would have to solicit the help of the US and possibly other mature democracies in order to help the Palestinians transition to independence.
