The Gaza test

Now that Gaza is practically free of Israelis, the West Bank, as it is
called, will become the focus of attention. But, should it? The WB is
claimed by both the Palestinian Arabs and Israel. Its borders happen to be
where the ceasefire lines were established after the War of Independence in
1948. Apart from a few exceptions it contains the bulk of the Arab
population of Palestine. It was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War,
but was not incorporated into Israel. It is Israeli-occupied disputed
territory whose ultimate fate awaits a negotiated Peace agreement. Until
now such negotiations have proven illusory, particularly under the regime of
Yasser Arafat. Just as with Gaza, the WB is not "stolen" or "Palestinian"
land.
The relative populations of Israel and the PA are quite well known. Gaza
contains ca. 1.2 million people and the West Bank ca. 2.3 million, for a
total Palestinian population of ca. 3.5 million. Israel's population is 6
million Jews and 1.2 million Israeli Arabs, for a total of ca. 7.2 million.
Therefore, if the total land of Eretz Israel or Palestine was divided
roughly 1:2 in favor of Israel, that should provide a simple solution for
both sides, in a very general sense.
The WB consists of ca. 40% of the land. The densely Jewish populated
regions, such as Ariel, Maale Adumim and Kfar Etzion (that was always Jewish
owned) consists of ca. a quarter of the WB or ca. 10% of the land, that will
be retained by Israel. So if the Palestinians got most of the WB and Gaza
they would have ca. one third of the land and Israel two thirds. That is
the basis for an equitable solution of the territorial conflict based on the
demographic balance!
However, the Palestinians, both officially through the PA and the terrorist
groups, claim much more. Particularly the PA claims all of the WB (and
Jerusalem) and Hamas all of mandatory Palestine, in other word the
destruction of the State of Israel. No negotiations are possible between
the PA and Israel if Hamas controls a large proportion of Gaza and also
retains its arms. It will always be launching terrorist attacks on Israel
and also the PA, in order to prevent any accommodation. Therefore, as
required by the Road Map agreement, the PA must stop all terrorism, disarm
the terrorists, and destroy the infrastructure of their organizations before
negotiations can proceed. Since this seems highly unlikely, it is best that
Israel should retain control of most of the West Bank until the conditions
for negotiations are achieved. Another unilateral disengagement from the WB
is not in the cards.
Meanwhile there is a simple test for the PA and Pres. Abbas. Can they
control and start to develop Gaza? Now that they have more space and more
money can they provide jobs and housing for their people, or are they going
to continue to force them to live in so-called "refugee camps" (since they
are no longer refugees after one generation) amid self-imposed squalor.
They should have more available money because the degree of corruption is
supposedly reduced, the US and EU have been generous, and the Palestinians
receive more "refugee aid" per capita by far than any other group in the
world. So let them take this opportunity and let's see them improve their
lot in Gaza before they claim any more lands in the West Bank or elsewhere.