The Nov. 29 Palestinian trip to the United Nations in order to upgrade their status from “Observer Entity” to “Nonmember Observer State” marks the latest development in the Middle East, where turmoil has become as conventional as wearing layers in January. With the eight—day Israeli-Hamas conflict still widely visible in the rearview mirror, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is engaging in a last—ditch effort to stave off a free fall into irrelevancy. With this status upgrade in sight, its implications may actually greatly benefit Israel and the peace-seeking international community at large, while acting as a detriment to Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
For almost two decades now, discussion of a two-state solution, in which Israel and Palestine bilaterally negotiate their borders, has remained stagnant and served as a festering, perpetual scab for all parties involved. Israel and President Abbas’ political party, Fatah, have held talks over this time, but extremist ideologies on both sides and problems in pragmatism have occluded the highly publicized solution from coming to fruition, giving off an air of utter ennui.
Prima facie, what Israel stands to lose by a successful Abbas attempt, is a denigration of primary bilateral negotiations. Ostensibly, Abbas’ main aim with the upgrade is the means to try Israel for war crimes at the International Criminal Courts (ICC) of the U.N.. But with the United States and UK wielding decisive power in the U.N., it seems likely that a successful Palestinian bid would include stipulations that Palestine could not make use of the ICC, and could not ask the U.N. for further support until bilateral negotiations with Israel have taken place without preconditions. Effectively, this upgrade in status would formally change a name and further extend authority without actually granting extra power to the PA.
If this is the case, then it is not only a win for Abbas and Fatah, but it is also a win for Israel, precisely because it is a blow to Hamas. Hamas—the terrorist group that reigns over the Gaza Strip—garnered semi-legitimacy after Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel and Hamas’ most recent battle. But with Fatah reclaiming its title as the sole legitimate option for Palestinian leadership—as the other major parties, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, are terrorist groups—Fatah is once again thrust into the international spotlight. After a successful mission, pressure would be placed on both Israel and Fatah to sit down at the negotiating table and discuss the key constituents of a deal that recognizes the legitimacy of both an independent state of Palestine and a Jewish state of Israel.
With Israel half-heartedly rejecting Abbas’ motion at the U.N., Hamas finds itself in an awkward position. If Israel opposes it, then by default Hamas must support it. Yet Hamas knows that with that bid, Fatah once again takes the reign as the region’s authoritative Palestinian voice.
Once Palestine is a state governed by the moderate Fatah party, Hamas will be delegitimized on both the regional and international scales. And with Israeli territory no longer in dispute, its mission to liberate all of Palestine (meaning all Israeli land) will be futile. Moreover, just as Egypt, Turkey and Jordan already maintain peace treaties with Israel, (optimistically) so too would Palestine, and Israel would garner one more ally in the region, an always-welcomed outcome.
It has been a long time coming, but the agreement on a two-state solution is a distinct possibility during President Obama’s second term. If, and hopefully when, that takes place, it would offer Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and all others intent on mass destruction and chaos an unequivocal signal that peace is not only possible, but it is wanted. If the United States and the United Kingdom qualify the Palestinian observer state bid in the aforementioned ways, then a road is paved for all parties involved to profit.
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