American Report: The Palestinian Authority Is Out of the Stability Equation

Follow-up by SadaNews: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy has released a widely circulated American report in official circles, addressing the future of the Palestinian Authority. The report was published just a few days after a conference held by the institute, which discussed a range of issues related to the region.

The institute clarifies that a group of advisers to U.S. President Donald Trump, involved in monitoring the Gaza file after the war, were responsible for preparing this report concerning the Palestinian Authority. According to SadaNews, the institute enjoys U.S. government support and is considered to have a significant voice in decision-making circles both within the United States and internationally.

Before diving into the details of the report, informed sources conveyed to SadaNews that its contents do not necessarily reflect the official stance of U.S. foreign policy at the present time. However, decision-makers in Washington constantly review such studies and may take their contents into consideration or disregard them based on political circumstances.

It's important to note that the Washington Institute, founded in 1985, has a clear footprint and tangible influence on senior officials and staff, not only in the United States but also in many countries around the world, giving it special weight in shaping visions and policies related to the Middle East.

The report followed by SadaNews states that the announcement of forming a professional committee of distinguished Palestinian figures to manage the Gaza Strip was intended to bring about a serious change in thinking regarding conflict resolution mechanisms and post-war management, moving beyond traditional diplomacy. Observers considered that the idea of a Gaza management committee is a brilliant one after years of traditional political practices that yielded no results.

It continued: "In this context, a Western newspaper reviewed an internal analytical report prepared by a group of President Trump's advisors involved in follow-up on post-war Gaza, which includes an unprecedented assessment of the future of the Palestinian Authority, concluding that the Authority, in its current form, is no longer treated in some influential official circles as a viable option for the future."

The institute added: "The report, which was not prepared for public release, uses direct and sharp language, going so far as to assert that the Palestinian Authority has surpassed the 'reform point' and has practically entered a phase of 'functional obsolescence.'"

According to the report, the model upon which the Palestinian Authority was built in the 1990s no longer aligns with: the reality of Palestinian society, or the requirements of modern governance, or the calculations of international actors seeking 'stable management at lower political costs.'

The report indicated that continued support for the Authority can no longer be justified as an investment in stability, but rather as a management of accumulated failure, especially after the Palestinian Authority presented the worst model in employment, salary payments to employees, and administrative and financial oversight tools.

The report lists what it calls "indicators of structural blockage," including: a closed ruling elite that has reproduced itself without actual renewal, widespread corruption deemed structural rather than incidental, a near-total absence of accountability mechanisms, and a widespread erosion of public trust.

The assessment concludes that any attempt at reform from within this system will merely reproduce the same results.

The most sensitive part of the report discusses alternative administrative models being researched in think tanks close to the administration, including: technocratic committees to manage civil affairs, temporary frameworks with limited powers, and involving community and professional elites outside the Authority’s system.

The report warns that the danger of these models lies in their ability to operate without the legitimacy of the traditional Authority.

The report asserts that the West Bank appears superficially stable, but this stability is more administrative than political, fragile and subject to erosion, and dependent on networks of interests rather than renewed public acceptance.

It notes that the emergence of any externally supported alternative framework could lead to a rapid decline in the current leadership's influence without direct confrontation.

Regarding the likely scenario according to the report: "The report does not speak of overthrow or confrontation, but rather of a colder and more dangerous course: a gradual withdrawal of functions from the Authority's institutions, transferring actual decision-making to parallel frameworks, while maintaining the political facade without substantive meaning.

The report describes this path as a 'quiet end.'"

In its conclusion, the report states: "The real danger to the current Palestinian leadership is not in losing positions, but in retaining them while crucial decisions are made outside its purview."

It adds: "In U.S. Cold calculations, the entity that can be bypassed without cost… is an entity that is no longer part of the future."

As published by the institute in conclusion: "The report concludes that President Trump's advisors are absolutely convinced that the formation of a Gaza management committee has achieved far greater success than anticipated, and after the wide acclaim that the White House has received from many countries, President Trump has become convinced of the necessity to replicate the same model for managing the West Bank by forming a committee of Palestinian technocrats to lead the West Bank towards security stability and economic prosperity, saving its people from authoritarian corruption, especially since a number of significant and respected Palestinian figures, including community leaders highly regarded in Palestinian society, have sent private messages to President Trump's aides requesting the establishment of such a committee in the West Bank to overcome the situation of administrative failure and rampant corruption that cannot be addressed in the Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah and among its senior figures."