Macron’s lofty goals for the Palestinian Authority defy reality

Mahmoud Abbas cannot even control Jenin in northern Samaria, let alone establish his rule over the entire West Bank and Gaza.

By: Joseph Puder

October 5, 2025

In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, French President Emmanuel Macron not only recognized Palestine as a state but also delineated how the Palestinian state under the leadership of the 89-year-old Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority would govern. Macron specified that France would open an embassy only after certain conditions are met, including the release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the implementation of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

According to Macron’s plan, the P.A. is expected to undertake a range of reforms to improve governance and prepare for a future Palestinian state, including reforming the education system, holding new elections, establishing a unified social welfare system and drafting a new constitution.

Abbas has allegedly committed to holding new presidential and parliamentary elections by 2026, within one year of the end of the conflict in Gaza. This aims to provide a renewed democratic mandate and address the P.A.’s perceived illegitimacy.

A temporary governing body is expected to be established to oversee governance and security in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during a transitional period. The P.A. is to draft an interim constitution within three months to oversee the transfer of power from the current authority to a new Palestinian state. The plan explicitly mandates that Hamas must be disarmed and have no role in governing a future Palestinian state.

The P.A. has “committed” to abolishing its controversial “pay-for-slay” system, which provides payments to the families of prisoners and martyrs. The system is to be replaced with a unified social-welfare system subject to international audit. Moreover, the system is expected to promote greater transparency and reform of its overall financial system.

Abbas also supposedly pledged to reform the school curriculum to remove incitement and hate speech, a longstanding concern for many Israelis. The P.A. is expected to update school textbooks to align with international standards, such as those set by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and prepare new educational materials. 

If even a fraction of these lofty goals were to be implemented, it might give hope to some degree of coexistence. But deep in his heart, Macron knows that this is just a show that the lead actor, Abbas, is incapable of fulfilling. He cannot even control Jenin in northern Samaria, let alone establish his rule over the entire West Bank and Gaza.

Moreover, if the provision for elections is to be upheld, Hamas would easily win in the West Bank and Gaza. Few Palestinians trust Abbas and his entourage. The corruption, nepotism and mismanagement of the P.A.’s treasury have created mistrust and resentment among many Palestinians and are among the reasons they would prefer the jihadist Hamas, with whom they more closely identify.

According to the 1995 Interim Agreement between Israel and the P.A. (Oslo II), Chapter 4, Article XXII, Paragraph 2, both parties were required to ensure their educational systems “Contribute to peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and peace in the entire region.” The article further stated that both sides “will refrain from the introduction of any motifs that could adversely affect the process of reconciliation.”

In June 2021, the American Jewish Committee Transatlantic Institute urged that action be taken to bring about an immediate end to the incitement in P.A.-issued textbooks and, if necessary, that the European Commission withhold funds to bring about necessary changes in the material. Just a few days before, a study by the German Georg Eckert Institute published in Germany’s Bild and in The Jerusalem Post had revealed the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement in these books.

Daniel Schwammenthal, then the director of the Brussels-based AJC Transatlantic Institute, charged at the time that “The deeply troubling study was long in the making and confirms what was documented over the past several years: The Palestinian Authority systematically poisons the minds of Palestinian children, teaching them hatred against Jews, the glorification of terror and the denial of Israel’s right to exist. This outrage has been allowed to continue for far too long and I urge the commission to take immediate action.”

Nothing has changed since 2021. In fact, the P.A.’s hate-education against Israel and Jews has intensified. Macron’s words about P.A. reforming their school curriculum and textbooks ring hollow. The European Union did nothing to force the P.A. to change, and it doesn’t have the courage or the will to do so now. The same applies to the P.A.’s aforementioned “pay-for-slay” program.

The P.A. last held elections for president in 2005 and for its legislature in 2006. A subsequent attempt to hold elections in 2021 was postponed indefinitely by Abbas. It is highly unlikely that he will follow up on his promise to Macron. There’s a good chance, due to his health issues, that he’ll be dead before any elections are held. War will then ensue between the various Fatah factions, and Hamas will take power by force just as it did in Gaza.

Macron is not so naive as to believe his own words. He knows that the Palestinians have had endless opportunities to establish a state next to Israel, but their aim was and still is to replace Israel by war and terror, not live side-by-side with Israel in peace. The ultimate goal of Hamas and the P.A. is the same: an end to the Jewish state. While Hamas openly declares its aim to destroy Israel, the P.A. would like to dismantle Israel in stages.

What Macron initiated is nothing short of appeasement. He has granted Hamas a reward for its Oct. 7 massacre of mostly civilians in southern Israel. The repercussions are the opposite of Macron’s alleged hopes to end the war and the return of the Israeli hostages. Instead, Hamas has found encouragement in the recognition of Palestinian statehood by European and other Western nations, all of which will result in Hamas holding on to their guns and the hostages while Arabs and Israelis die in the process.