The United Nations is once again preparing to indulge in diplomatic theater. Later this week, a number of Western nations will stand before the world and declare their recognition of a Palestinian state. The announcement will be greeted with applause, headlines, and triumphant speeches. But nothing on the ground will change—because there is no Palestinian state to recognize. What these governments are really doing is not building peace, but creating another tool to bludgeon Israel, while ignoring the glaring reality of who they are empowering.
The absurdity of the plan is obvious even to its architects. Britain, France, and their allies have been clear: Hamas cannot be part of the new state they wish to recognize. A Palestinian state must not support terrorism, they say. Yet these same governments are actively condemning Israel for waging war against Hamas, the very terror group that would sabotage any such future state. Worse still, Hamas has openly celebrated the recognition initiative. That should be the first warning sign.
The second warning sign is the proposed governing body: the Palestinian Authority (PA). In Western capitals, the PA is treated as the “moderate” alternative to Hamas. In reality, the PA has long been neck-deep in corruption, violence, and incitement. For years, it has operated the notorious “pay-to-slay” program, issuing monthly stipends to terrorists who murder Israelis and to the families of so-called “martyrs” killed while carrying out attacks. This policy was so egregious that in 2018, the United States passed the Taylor Force Act, cutting off funding until it ended.
Officially, the PA now claims it has abandoned pay-to-slay. In February, Mahmoud Abbas announced a new system. By April, the PA invited American inspectors to come see the reforms for themselves. And in September, they insisted the old practice had been eliminated. Yet Palestinian Media Watch, a watchdog organization that tracks the PA closely, has exposed these assurances as lies.
The PA has not ended the program—it has disguised it. Payments continue to flow, rerouted through post office ATMs rather than banks. This was no accident. Years ago, after international pressure, Palestinian banks shut down tens of thousands of accounts belonging to terrorists and their families. The PA responded by creating a parallel system to keep the money moving. Abbas himself has been unambiguous in Arabic: the terrorists and their families “will continue to receive what they always received.” The only real change is cosmetic, designed to give Western governments a fig leaf while they pursue their diplomatic theater.
The fraud runs deeper. The so-called Palestinian National Economic Empowerment Institution, touted as an “independent” body handling these payments, is nothing of the sort. Its board is stacked with PA officials. It is, in essence, a shell corporation laundering terrorist stipends under a different name. Yet governments eager to believe in the myth of a reformed Palestinian Authority have latched onto this fiction. Reports parroting the PA’s claims—unverified, inconsistent, and riddled with contradictions—have been enough to sway policy debates in European capitals.
Western leaders tell themselves a story: peace requires a Palestinian state, and the PA is a reliable partner to deliver it. But the story collapses the moment it collides with reality. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are not rivals in vision or purpose—they are partners in method. One speaks in diplomatic jargon; the other fires rockets and digs tunnels. Both reward murder, glorify “martyrs,” and dedicate themselves to Israel’s destruction.
Which is why the latest push for recognition is not an act of statecraft but of self-deception. It props up a regime that has never prepared its people for peace, that teaches its children to revere terrorists, and that disguises financial support for killers as social welfare. Call it what you like—recognition, diplomacy, peacemaking. At its core, it is nothing more than empowering terror in a suit and tie.
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki is the Executive Director of Israel365 Action.
