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The World Needs a ‘Day After’ Plan — for the West Bank
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appoints Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), in Ramallah, in the West Bank March 14, 2024 in this handout image. Photo: Palestinian president office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Discussions of the “day after” in Gaza overlook the equally important issue of the day after in the West Bank (referred to by Israel as Judea and Samaria). The Palestinian government in the West Bank is headed for upheaval.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was elected in 2005 to serve a four-year term but still clings to power 20 years later without authority. This longstanding disregard of democracy has undermined the PA’s legitimacy in two respects. First, the PA cannot credibly claim to represent the Palestinian people. Second, the refusal to hold elections violates the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords of 1993, which created the PA as an interim Palestinian body that would end Palestinian terrorism and promote Palestinian human development in areas such as health, education, and policing.
The unelected PA — along with its controlling Fatah party — are widely regarded by Palestinians as corrupt, inept, and oblivious. Disturbingly, it is Fatah’s rival, the Hamas terrorist organization, that is more respected among Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza.
Although Hamas ignores the demands of human development in favor of its ongoing war of terror against Israel, Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 invasion of Israel has only driven the terror group’s popularity to new heights. In 2006, the last time the PA held elections, Hamas won a majority of seats in the legislature, but Fatah ignored the outcome. The next year, Hamas violently ousted the PA’s Fatah representatives from Gaza. As a result, the PA has no control over Gaza — and has evidenced no intention of holding elections in the West Bank, likely because the vote would favor Hamas.
Hamas also enjoys a military edge over Fatah, thanks in part to a torrent of weapons that has been smuggled into the West Bank, where the terror group has many operatives, from Iran at an accelerated pace. The weapons not only help Hamas and related terror groups defy the PA but also enable them to wage vastly more terrorist attacks on Israelis. Terror cells in the West Bank and Jerusalem attempted fewer than 400 terror attacks in 2021 and fewer than 500 in 2022 but over 1,000 in 2023 and over 1,000 again in 2024. Meanwhile, pursuant to the recent Hamas-Israel ceasefire agreement in Gaza, Israel has begun to free what could ultimately be thousands of convicted Palestinian terrorists, some of whom are Hamas loyalists returning to the West Bank.
The PA has tried to combat the West Bank terror cells without obstructing their attacks on Israel, but the strategy has failed.
Compounding the PA’s predicament, Abbas is 89 years old and in poor health. His supposed successor is considered a mere placeholder with no political backing.
Given these circumstances, Hamas could launch an insurrection in the West Bank similar to the violence it inflicted to evict the PA from Gaza. Even without a PA regime change, the ongoing escalation in West Bank-originated terror attacks could well culminate in another Oct. 7-style invasion, as Hamas itself has already warned.
Until this year, Israel has propped up the PA to preserve the scaffolding of the Oslo Accords and avoid the rise of more extreme West Bank Palestinian elements. Now it appears the extremist nightmare is coming true.
Faced with this existential threat, Israel’s options are limited. It cannot force Palestinians to elect a new PA, renounce terrorism, or prioritize their Oslo-enshrined human development tasks. Nor can it afford to wait and see if Abbas is replaced by someone better. Israel is struggling to survive a prolonged seven-front war with unpredictable support from the US and opposition from world bodies such as the UN.
Fortunately, Israel benefits from two sources of lawful self-defense. One is Article 51 of the UN Charter. Under Article 51, Israel may use military force in Gaza and the West Bank to repel armed attacks against Israelis within the Green Line such as occurred on Oct. 7, 2023. In addition, a section of the Oslo Accords titled Arrangements for Security and Public Order authorizes Israel to use “all the powers … necessary” to protect the 500,000 Israelis living in the West Bank.
The above provisions clearly validate Israel’s plan to build a security barrier along its border with Jordan to help prevent weapons smuggling. These provisions also permit the new strategy of deterrence Israel has unveiled in the West Bank town of Jenin. In the Jenin mission, called Operation Iron Wall, the Israel Defense Force aims to eliminate a terrorist stronghold rather than merely reduce the number and lethality of its terror attacks. Operation Iron Wall is characterized by larger contingents of IDF troops, deeper incursions into enemy territory, longer lasting surgical raids, and more intensive firepower, including air strikes and tank rounds.
By neglecting the Oslo Accords, the PA has deprived its people of a legitimate leadership committed to disarming terrorists and serving Palestinian needs. An all-out war between Hamas and Fatah, which appears increasingly likely, may expose Palestinian civilians to terrorist attacks by Hamas and to harm from Israel’s legitimate responsive efforts to thwart those attacks. Whether or not Hamas overpowers the PA, if the militants batter Israel with another Oct. 7 attack, the West Bank may be left looking like Gaza.
The international community, and in particular moderate Arab states, should intervene to stop the Palestinian train wreck before it’s too late.
Joel M. Margolis is the Legal Commentator, American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, US Affiliate of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists. His 2001 book, The Israeli-Palestinian Legal War, analyzed the major legal issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previously he worked as a telecommunications lawyer in both the public and private sectors.
The post The World Needs a ‘Day After’ Plan — for the West Bank first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Sharaa Says Talks With Israel Could Yield Results ‘In Coming Days’
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks at the opening ceremony of the 62nd Damascus International Fair, the first edition held since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in Damascus, Syria, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results “in the coming days.”
He told reporters in Damascus the security pact was a “necessity” and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.
Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.
Reuters reported this week that Washington was pressuring Syria to reach a deal before world leaders gather next week for the UN General Assembly in New York.
But Sharaa, in a briefing with journalists including Reuters ahead of his expected trip to New York to attend the meeting, denied the US was putting any pressure on Syria and said instead that it was playing a mediating role.
He said Israel had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions since Dec. 8, when the rebel offensive he led toppled former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa said Israel’s actions were contradicting the stated American policy of a stable and unified Syria, which he said was “very dangerous.”
He said Damascus was seeking a deal similar to a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a demilitarized zone between the two countries.
He said Syria sought the withdrawal of Israeli troops but that Israel wanted to remain at strategic locations it seized after Dec. 8, including Mount Hermon. Israeli ministers have publicly said Israel intends to keep control of the sites.
He said if the security pact succeeds, other agreements could be reached. He did not provide details, but said a peace agreement or normalization deal like the US-mediated Abraham Accords, under which several Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, was not currently on the table.
He also said it was too early to discuss the fate of the Golan Heights because it was “a big deal.”
Reuters reported this week that Israel had ruled out handing back the zone, which Donald Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli during his first term as US president.
“It’s a difficult case – you have negotiations between a Damascene and a Jew,” Sharaa told reporters, smiling.
SECURITY PACT DERAILED IN JULY
Sharaa also said Syria and Israel had been just “four to five days” away from reaching the basis of a security pact in July, but that developments in the southern province of Sweida had derailed those discussions.
Syrian troops were deployed to Sweida in July to quell fighting between Druze armed factions and Bedouin fighters. But the violence worsened, with Syrian forces accused of execution-style killings and Israel striking southern Syria, the defense ministry in Damascus and near the presidential palace.
Sharaa on Wednesday described the strikes near the presidential palace as “not a message, but a declaration of war,” and said Syria had still refrained from responding militarily to preserve the negotiations.
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Anti-Israel Activists Gear Up to ‘Flood’ UN General Assembly
US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel groups are planning a wave of raucous protests in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) over the next several days, prompting concerns that the demonstrations could descend into antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation.
A coalition of anti-Israel activists is organizing the protests in and around UN headquarters to coincide with speeches from Middle Eastern leaders and appearances by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The demonstrations are expected to draw large crowds and feature prominent pro-Palestinian voices, some of whom have been criticized for trafficking in antisemitic tropes, in addition to calling for the destruction of Israe.
Organizers of the demonstrations have promoted the coordinated events on social media as an opportunity to pressure world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with some messaging framed in sharply hostile terms.
On Sunday, for example, activists shouted at Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
“Zionism is terrorism. All you guys are terrorists committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza and Palestine. Shame on you, Zionist animals,” they shouted.
BREAKING: PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTORS CONFRONT “ISRAELI” AMBASSADOR DANNY DANON AT THE UNITED NATIONS
1/5 pic.twitter.com/4G1VYEMGzV
— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) September 14, 2025
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), warned on its website that the scale and tone of the planned demonstrations risk crossing the line from political protest into hate speech, arguing that anti-Israel activists are attempting to hijack the UN gathering to spread antisemitism and delegitimize the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Outside the UN last week, masked protesters belonging to the activist group INDECLINE kicked a realistic replica of Netanyahu’s decapitated head as though it were a soccer ball.
US activist group plays soccer with Bibi’s mock decapitated HEAD right outside NYC UN HQ
Peep shot at 00:40
Footage posted by INDECLINE collective just as UN General Assembly about to kick off
‘Following the game, ball was donated to Palestinian Genocide Museum’ pic.twitter.com/TQ84sgZhKr
— RT (@RT_com) September 9, 2025
Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a radical anti-Israel activist group, has vowed to “flood” the UNGA on behalf of the pro-Palestine movement.
WOL, one of the most prolific anti-Israel activist groups, came under immense fire after it organized a protest against an exhibition to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. During the event, the group chanted “resistance is justified when people are occupied!” and “Israel, go to hell!”
“We will be there to confront them with the truth: Their silence and inaction enable genocide. The world cannot continue as if Gaza does not exist,” WOL said of its planned demonstrations in New York. “This is the time to make our voices impossible to ignore. Come to New York by any means necessary, to stand, to march, to demand the UN act and end the siege.”
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), two other anti-Israel organizations that have helped organize widespread demonstrations against the Jewish state during the war in Gaza, also announced they are planning a march from Times Square to the UN headquarters on Friday.
“The time is now for each and every UN member state to uphold their duty under international law: sanction Israel and end the genocide,” the groups said in a statement.
JVP, an organization that purports to fight for “Palestinian liberation,” has positioned itself as a staunch adversary of the Jewish state. The group argued in a 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing” to Palestinians. JVP has repeatedly defended the Oct. 7 massacre of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas as a justified “resistance.” Chapters of the organization have urged other self-described “progressives” to throw their support behind Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel
Similarly, PYM, another radical anti-Israel group, has repeatedly defended terrorism and violence against the Jewish state. PYM has organized many anti-Israel protests in the two years following the Oct. 7 attacks in the Jewish state. Recently, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) called for a federal investigation into the organization after Aisha Nizar, one of the group’s leaders, urged supporters to sabotage the US supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, one of the most advanced US military assets and a critical component of Israel’s defense.
The UN General Assembly has historically been a flashpoint for heated debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previous gatherings have seen dueling demonstrations outside the Manhattan venue, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups both seeking to influence the international spotlight.
While warning about the demonstrations, CAM noted it recently launched a new mobile app, Report It, that allows users worldwide to quickly and securely report antisemitic incidents in real time.
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Nina Davidson Presses Universities to Back Words With Action as Jewish Students Return to Campus Amid Antisemitism Crisis
Nina Davidson on The Algemeiner’s ‘J100’ podcast. Photo: Screenshot
Philanthropist Nina Davidson, who served on the board of Barnard College, has called on universities to pair tough rhetoric on combatting antisemitism with enforcement as Jewish students returned to campuses for the new academic year.
“Years ago, The Algemeiner had published a list ranking the most antisemitic colleges in the country. And number one was Columbia,” Davidson recalled on a recent episode of The Algemeiner‘s “J100” podcast. “As a board member and as someone who was representing the institution, it really upset me … At the board meeting, I brought it up and I said, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”
Host David Cohen, chief executive officer of The Algemeiner, explained he had revisited Davidson’s remarks while she was being honored for her work at The Algemeiner‘s 8th annual J100 gala, held in October 2021, noting their continued relevance.
“It could have been the same speech in 2025,” he said, underscoring how longstanding concerns about campus antisemitism, while having intensified in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, are not new.
Davidson argued that universities already possess the tools to protect students – codes of conduct, time-place-manner rules, and consequences for threats or targeted harassment – but too often fail to apply them evenly. “Statements are not enough,” she said, arguing that institutions need to enforce their rules and set a precedent that there will be consequences for individuals who refuse to follow them.
She also said that stakeholders – alumni, parents, and donors – are reassessing their relationships with schools that, in their view, have not safeguarded Jewish students. While supportive of open debate, Davidson distinguished between protest and intimidation, calling for leadership that protects expression while ensuring campus safety.
The episode surveyed specific pressure points that administrators will face this fall: repeat anti-Israel encampments, disruptions of Jewish programming, and the challenge of distinguishing political speech from conduct that violates university rules. “Unless schools draw those lines now,” Davidson warned, “they’ll be scrambling once the next crisis hits.”
Cohen closed by framing the discussion as a test of institutional credibility, asking whether universities will “turn policy into protection” in real time. Davidson agreed, pointing to students who “need to know the rules aren’t just on paper.”
The full conversation is available on The Algemeiner’s “J100” podcast.