While the PA has made promising statements – including condemning the October 7 attacks, calling for Hamas’ disarmament and committing to reforms – these must be judged by actions, not words. Without tangible reforms to improve transparency, end incitement and strengthen the rule of law, talk of statehood remains hollow. Elections alone do not create a democracy.
In Gaza, elections elevated extremists because the safeguards for democratic governance were missing. The result was not freedom but repression. True leadership demands that the hard work of reforming Palestinian governance and dismantling terrorist infrastructure is done before recognition is even considered.
For decades, Palestinian leaders have defined their struggle through opposition to Israel’s existence, rather than by committing to statehood through coexistence. Recognising a Palestinian state now, before dismantling Hamas, before the return of hostages and before PA reform, would repeat the disengagement error on a much larger scale.
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Just weeks ago, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia wouldn’t recognise a Palestinian state imminently. The only thing that has changed in that time is Hamas has become more entrenched. The irony is that Hamas walked away from ceasefire negotiations not because of Israeli intransigence but because, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recognised, it was emboldened by France’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state. Pressuring Israel while emboldening Hamas is unjust and strategically reckless.
Recognition must not be based on punishing Israel. The corollary is that it rewards Hamas for its deliberate strategy of embedding itself in civilian infrastructure, putting civilians at risk and hoarding food to generate international pressure on Israel.
Australia and the West’s discourse fails to confront this reality. Across the Middle East, Arab states are condemning Hamas and demanding Palestinian leadership that can coexist with Israel. Meanwhile, in Australia, the loudest voices in the debate are from the extremes on both the left and the right, united not by a vision for peace but by a refusal to condemn terror and a deep hostility to Israel’s existence.
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If we allow the extremes to dominate the debate, we forfeit the possibility of a two-state solution. They are not interested in reform or coexistence; they seek Israel’s elimination.
We must reclaim the centre with a principled stance that supports Palestinian statehood as an eventual, necessary outcome, but one rooted in peace, recognition and reform. Any sustainable solution must include Israel. Imposing Palestinian statehood on Israel, a nation fighting for its survival against those who seek its destruction, is both unrealistic and irresponsible.
This is not a call to abandon hope. It is a call to learn from history.
We all aspire to a future where a secure Israel lives alongside a peaceful Palestinian state. But that future cannot be built on fantasies or moral shortcuts. It must be grounded in facts, history and principle. If the Gaza disengagement taught us anything, it is this: territorial control without institutional reform leads not to peace but to bloodshed.
Recognition may be the light on the hill – but it cannot be offered to those who haven’t yet climbed the mountain. If Palestinian statehood is inevitable, then let us do the hard work to ensure it succeeds.
Jeremy Leibler is president of the Zionist Federation of Australia.
