Israel as Accountant-in-Chief for Its Adversaries: Efficiency Over Ethics |
When your adversary runs a business that pays people to harm you, and the world expects you to manage the payroll on time.
The Palestinian Authority: The ‘Legitimate’ Government That Never Asks Voters
There’s an international consensus that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is the legitimate governing body for Palestinians, so legitimate, in fact, that democracy apparently took a permanent holiday. The PA hasn’t held meaningful elections in decades, yet it continues to be treated as the single, indispensable representative of the Palestinian people on the world stage.
The most visible stage for this legitimacy theatre is the United Nations. In a series of symbolic votes, the General Assembly has repeatedly boosted the Palestinian position, urging broader recognition and supporting greater participation for Palestine in the UN system — even as the PA’s democratic mandate remains as thin as air in a vacuum.
The UN General Assembly even adopted a resolution affirming that the Palestinian entity qualifies for full United Nations membership and should be considered for that status, even though the more democratic bodies charged with evaluating membership, like the Security Council, have not recommended it, the vote was overwhelming.
The PA’s role was reaffirmed again in 2025, when a broad UN vote backed a declaration endorsing a future independent Palestinian state, envisioning the PA as the authority that would govern its territory once such a state exists. The resolution passed with 142 votes in favor, ten against, and 12 abstentions — despite Israel’s fierce rejection of statehood and concerns about granting diplomatic legitimacy without accountability.
From Brussels to New York, governments and international bodies routinely treat the PA as The Palestinian People’s Government, regardless of whether Palestinians have ever had the chance to renew that government through any kind of electoral process. And yet, somewhere between the endless resolutions and rushing to affirm legitimacy, no one seems to ask the obvious question: When did diplomatic applause replace democratic endorsement?
In this new normal, legitimacy is not what you earn at the ballot box — it’s what the UN stamp approves.
At the UN: Demands, Not Accountability
At the United Nations, the role of “Palestinian representatives asking for money” has become as predictable as stadium anthems. In late November 2025, a senior Palestinian minister stood before the world and demanded that Israel........