Imagine this proposal: Pakistan, with its 150 million people, 350,000 square miles, and 80 years of history should simply cease to exist. Deport every Pakistani. Hand the territory to India. Sound absurd? It is. Pakistan has a formidable military, diplomatic ties with the USA, Russia, and China, and despite being ranked the 7th most hated country in 2024 by worldpopulationreview.com, it’s not going anywhere.
Now consider Israel—ranked 6th most hated, just ahead of Pakistan. A nation of 10 million on 9,000 square miles with a $50,000 GDP per capita and the Middle East’s most powerful military. Yet some advocate for its dissolution, suggesting all Israelis be expelled and the land given to Palestinians. Ask yourself: is this any more realistic than erasing Pakistan? The answer defines the conversation we should actually be having about Palestine’s future.
Since its founding, Israel has won every war it faced—the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War—always sustaining fewer casualties while inflicting more damage. The Israel Defense Forces command dominance on land, sea, and air. And whether we approve or not, Israel possesses nuclear weapons with second-strike submarine capabilities, making it untouchable militarily. But here’s the critical question: Have any of these wars produced long-term benefits for Palestinians? The answer is a resounding no. Each conflict has brought more suffering, more displacement, more lost opportunities.
| War | Israeli Casualties | Opponent Casualties | Consequences for the Palestinians |
| 1948 Arab – Israeli War | 7000 | 6300 | 750,000 Palestinians expelled |
| 1967 Six Day War | 1000 | 15000 | 400,000 Palestinians displaced from West Bank, Gaza |
| First Intifada | 2800 | 15000 | Creation of the West Bank area |
| Second Intifada | 1000 | 3500 | Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip |
| 2023 Israel – Hamas War | 2000 | 50,000 | Aerial bombardment & invasion of Gaza |
Military might alone doesn’t guarantee prosperity—just ask the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan called it “an empire of evil” in 1984, and within years, its members were fleeing westward for prosperity and freedom. The lesson? Diplomacy trumps tanks when building a sustainable future. Israel has learned this masterfully. Beyond its military prowess, it has systematically built a network of regional alliances: peace treaties with Egypt in 1980 and Jordan in 1994, then the Abraham Accords on September 15, 2020, when UAE and Bahrain recognized Israel, followed by Sudan. Yes, these are “cold peace” agreements. But remember Pakistan and India: a cold peace beats a hot war every single time.
Then came August 28, 2023. An Israeli flight made an emergency landing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The passengers spent the night there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Saudi Arabia—in Hebrew—for the hospitality and “good neighborliness.” This wasn’t an accident. This was diplomatic theater, a warmup act before Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords. Had Hamas not attacked on October 7, 2023, that union would likely have materialized. The message is clear: Germany and France fought from the Franco-Prussian War through WWII before building a prosperous European Union together. Middle Eastern powers understand this precedent. They know regional cooperation beats perpetual conflict.
Consider Germany in 1945. Not just defeated—destroyed. Split in two. Industrial capacity plundered. Military obliterated. Four million men dead. Twelve million Germans expelled from Eastern and Central Europe in what historians debate may constitute genocide. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, emerged as WWII’s greatest victor, commanding the world’s most powerful army and inspiring communist movements globally. Fast forward 50 years. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Germany reunited and became the world’s third-largest economy, an industrial juggernaut, the de facto leader of the European Union, and one of the world’s most desirable destinations for immigrants. The Germans went from pariah to prosperity in two generations. Are Palestinians worse off than post-WWII Germans? Does Palestine have more global sympathy? If Germany could rise from total destruction, what’s stopping Palestine?
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: corrupt leadership has devastated Palestinian prospects. The PLO, Fatah, and Hamas all started with genuine aspirations for statehood but became seduced by international aid money. These organizations have siphoned billions while ordinary Palestinians remain impoverished. Blaming Israel for Palestine’s misfortunes becomes pointless when internal corruption remains unaddressed. Since the Oslo Accords in 1992, progress has stalled—not primarily because of Israeli obstruction, but because Palestinian leadership has failed its people.
So what should Palestinians do? Accept reality and build from there. With the USA and Arab states as mediators, Palestinian leaders should secure recognition of Palestinian statehood—even if it means accepting painful compromises like not having Jerusalem as the capital and recognizing Israel’s right to exist. Then fix internal governance. Develop a political system that serves the people, not the leaders’ bank accounts. This is prerequisite to everything else. Build a real economy. Stop depending on foreign aid. Create industries, jobs, and infrastructure. Avoid the Islamist routes of Afghanistan and Somalia or the militant route of Sudan—these lead to violence and failed states. Instead, look to Jordan and the UAE as role models. These nations have built stable, prosperous societies that balance tradition with pragmatic governance.
If Palestinians implement this pragmatic vision, they can replicate the UAE’s success within decades and join the ranks of respectable Middle Eastern nations. The alternative—clinging to fantasies of Israel’s erasure—means another 80 years of suffering, corruption, and missed opportunities. Germany rose from the ashes. Japan rebuilt from atomic devastation. South Korea emerged from military dictatorship to become an economic powerhouse. Vietnam unified and is now a manufacturing hub. Even Rwanda has become an African success story after genocide. The question isn’t whether Palestinians can succeed. It’s whether Palestinian leadership will finally choose pragmatism over ideology, prosperity over perpetual grievance, and their children’s future over political theater.
The path exists. It requires swallowing pride, accepting uncomfortable compromises, and focusing relentlessly on building rather than destroying. Eighty years of the current approach have failed. Perhaps it’s time to try something different.
