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By all measures, President Obama has made the settlement issue in the West Bank the touchstone item for moving Israel and the Arab community toward a comprehensive peace agreement. He has demanded that Israel freeze these settlements in the West Bank arguing that “Settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward.” Every presidential administration since the 1967 war (i.e., nine presidents) has made the same demand. More than 120 settlements have been constructed over the past 42 years, and the Israeli population in the West Bank now totals 190,000 in the Jerusalem area and 289,000 elsewhere. What is now different is that Obama is making this singular issue the hallmark of his policy. Israel must end all settlements! The Arab community (e.g., Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc.) is saying: Before it makes any concessions to Israel, Israel must emphatically and decisively end all settlements—and some are even arguing for the dismantlement all settlements planted since 1967. Israel counters that these settlements are a part of dealing with its “natural growth.” Furthermore, the Arab community has never been serious about making peace so “why should we make this decisive step with no guarantees from them?” As all previous presidents have discovered, this is an intractable issue for both sides.
But there is also some positive and encouraging news coming from the West Bank. As Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the US, recently reported: The West Bank has experienced a 7% growth rate, declining unemployment, a thriving tourist industry and a 24% hike in the average daily wage. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the West Bank economy is flourishing. The IMF also reports an 18% increase in the local stock exchange, a 94% growth of tourism to Bethlehem—generating 6,000 new jobs—and an 82% rise in trade with Israel. Since 2008, more than 2,000 new companies have been registered with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Where there was once war and terrorism, there is now security and an economic boom. What has produced the change?
- The wise and responsible fiscal policy of Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad, who is an American-educated leader, is part of the reason.
- There is a vastly improved security environment—2,100 members of the Palestinian security forces, graduates of an innovative program led by US general Keith Dayton, now patrol seven major cities. This improved security environment has fostered astounding increases in trade and finance.
- As Tony Blair recently remarked, Israel must be given credit as well. It has removed dozens of checkpoints and road blocks, withdrawing Israeli troops from population centers and facilitating transportation into both Israel and Jordan. As a result, there has been a 200% increase in agricultural exports and a nearly 1,000% increase in the number of trucks importing produce into the West Bank from Israel.
- Oren reports that “the West Bank’s population is building sovereignty from the bottom-up forging the law-enforcement, civil, and finance institutions that form the underpinnings of any modern polity.”
All of this positive change is in distinct contrast to Gaza, administered by Hamas. There is 40% unemployment there. Instead of investing in new shopping centers and restaurants, Hamas is spending millions on rockets and mortar shells. Palestinians in Gaza had better take notice of their West Bank counterparts. Which Palestinian leadership is really serving the interests of the Palestinians? Hamas or Fatah? Prime Minister Fayyad decided after the seizure of Gaza by Hamas that the West Bank Palestinian Authority would deliver on transparent, accountable administration and services. His policy is working! He is showing that focusing on development and delivering services to the people is far wiser and more beneficial than focusing on terrorism. Hamas and Hezbollah should look to Fayyad, not Iran, if it wants to see what its future could really look like. What is occurring on the West Bank is one of the greatest sources of optimism and hope for the Palestinian people and for the greater Middle East the world has seen in decades. By God’s grace, may it continue.
See David Ignatius in the Washington Post (4 June 2009); Michael Oren in the Wall Street Journal (14 August 2009); and Thomas Friedman in the New York Times (5 August 2009). |
