The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | August 13th, 2025: Why a Palestinian State is Not the Solution to Peace

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

In this episode of the PDB Afternoon Bulletin, Mike Baker examines the history behind the two-state idea, from the original 1947 UN partition plan to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. We look at how Gaza’s experiment with autonomy under Hamas turned into a launchpad for violence, the deep divisions in Palestinian leadership, and why recognition without security guarantees risks making peace harder, not easier.To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com.Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief.YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybriefTriTails Premium Beef: Visit https://trybeef.com/PDB & get a Free 8oz Choice Filet on orders $349+Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looking to diversify and protect your hard-earned assets, well, schedule a free consultation call with the Birch Gold Group. They're the precious metals specialists. Just text PDB to the number 989-8-8-8-8-8-8 and you'll receive a free, no-obligation information kit, and you'll learn how to convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a gold IRA. Again, just text PDB to the number 989-89-89. It's Wednesday, the 13th of August, welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Now, before we get started, I did want to make one announcement. An extraordinary man passed away a few days ago on this past Friday. Judge William Webster died at age 101. Now, Judge Webster served this nation in a variety of ways, including in the Navy during World War II, and as the

director of the FBI and the director of the CIA, the only person to hold both those positions. Now, I was very fortunate to know him over the years as a mentor and a friend. He was exceedingly kind, humble, and always generous with his time, with his insight, and his wit. He's playing tennis up there in heaven now, moving around the court like he used to when he was a young man. Godspeed, judge. All right, let's get briefed. Today, we're taking a step back from the daily headlines to zero in on an issue that's been dominating international headlines and debates in recent weeks, and that, of course, would be the question of Palestinian statehood, the so-called two-state solution.

As we previously reported, Australia has joined France, the United Kingdom, and Canada, in moving toward recognition of a Palestinian state. But the question to ask is, could this push actually make peace harder to achieve? Now, the question has sparked sharply divided reactions. Supporters see recognition as a step toward resolving one of the world's most entrenched conflicts. Critics, however, argue it's premature at best, and at worst, a move that rewards the terrorism of Hamas. But supporters, well, they see it very differently, hailing it as a long overdue step toward

resolving one of the world's most long-standing conflicts. On paper, well, it sounds like a path toward peace, recognizing. Palestine, give it statehood, and finally put the decades-long conflict with Israel to rest. It all sounds very neat and tidy. That's the theory. And the nations that over the years, including France, Britain, Canada, and Australia this year that have declared their support for a Palestinian state, well, they've all engaged in this theoretical exercise, knowing that they don't actually have to do anything. You declare that you support a Palestinian state and you get to feel fairly superior and good about yourself. But the problem is, history, politics, and the real world

all suggest that it likely won't work that way. Now, to understand why, we need to rewind a bit and take a quick look at history. Now, of course, this is not all encompassing. It's a quick overview. I'd encourage you to dig into all sides of this history when you can. It's a lesson in complexity and frustration and real politics. Back in 1947, the UN proposed a partition plan for the British mandate of Palestine. The idea was straightforward, create two states, one Jewish, one Arab, living side by side. The Jewish leadership, eventually, with much reluctance, accepted the plan, even though it gave them less than they wanted and included some awkward territorial splits, such as disconnected enclaves and narrow corridors linking key areas.

But the Arab leadership rejected it outright. They opposed the idea of any Jewish state on what they considered Arab land. And the reality was, frankly, both sides were engaged in acts of violence against the other during this period of time. So when Israel declared independence in 1948, five Arab armies invaded. Israel survived, expanded, expanded, expanded, and expanded its terrorist, in the process, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees, most settling in the Gaza strip, then under Egyptian control, and the West Bank, which at the time was occupied by Jordan. From the very beginning then, the barrier to a two-state solution wasn't simply borders. It was the refusal by many to accept a Jewish state at all.

Now, that refusal still lingers in parts of Palestinian politics today, and in many cases continues to drive it. The concrete example, of course, would be Hamas's stated goal of the destruction of Israel, which, of course, is the stated goal of Hamas' key supporter and benefactor, the Iranian regime. Now, fast forward to the modern era, I told you we'd cover this quickly, and we've actually had a real-world experiment in Palestinian self-rule, that would be the Gaza Strip. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew all its troops and settlers from Gaza. The Palestinian Authority, the PA took control and the territory was effectively self-governing. But just two years later, Hamas, an Islamist militant group dedicated to Israel's destruction, seized control from the Palestinian

authority in a violent coup. Since then, Gaza has been ruled entirely by Hamas. So this isn't a case of Israel never gave Palestinians a chance, even though that's a tidy way to look at it. They did have, for a period of time, full autonomy. They had international aid. They had the opportunity, to build institutions, attract investment, and focus on improving the lives of their people. Instead, Hamas, under the tutelage of the Iranian regime, poured resources into rocket manufacturing, terror tunnels, and military training. Over the years, they've fired tens of thousands of rockets at Israeli towns and cities. Their founding charter explicitly calls for the eradication of Israel, declaring, quote, Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it,

just as it obliterated others before it, end quote. That's a fairly clear statement. If Gaza was meant to be a preview of what an independent Palestinian state could look like, well, it's not exactly what the advertisement that peace advocates were hoping for. And therein lies the problem with Palestinian statehood. Recognizing a Palestinian state sounds, well, straightforward, right? You make that declaration, I support this, and sure it's going to happen, until you ask the all-important question.

Who exactly would run it? Right now, Palestinian politics is split between two rival governing organizations, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, dominated by the Fatah Party, and a significantly weakened, yet still operational, Hamas in Gaza. These two factions are bitter enemies, and have failed for nearly two decades to reconcile. So, up until Hamas started this latest conflict with their 7 October 2023 attacks, The theory was that a recognized Palestinian state would either be run by Hamas, which again is committed to Israel's destruction, or by the Palestinian Authority, which is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, and plagued by corruption, weak institutions, and a history of incitement. So neither of those options scream, quote, stable partner for peace. And in the wake of the 7 October attacks, even the Arab League is conceding that Hamas cannot be part of the future governance of Gaza. So again, the question is, who would lead Gaza, who would oversee its rebuilding, its security, its future.

The general building consensus currently, at least among Western nations that don't actually reside there or have skin in the game, is that some unspecified coalition of Arab states would create a functioning overseer until such time that some unnamed Palestinian government would be ready to assume control. Now, if you think that sounds vague and ephemeral, well, you're correct. All right, coming up next, we'll dig deeper into why immediate recognition might actually set piece back, not move it forward.

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Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at MintMobile.com. Welcome back to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Before the break, we raised the obvious question of who might actually run a recognized Palestinian state. Now let's turn to the bigger question. Would recognition itself bring peace? Well, advocates argue it's the essential first step toward ending the conflict. But recognition alone changes nothing about the on-the-ground realities that fuel the violence. Borders won't end the conflict if one side refuses to accept the other's rights.

to exist, and they won't create security if the recognized state becomes a launch pad for attacks. Israelis point to the Gaza precedent for a reason. When they withdrew from territory without ironclad guarantees for peace, it became a staging ground for war. They fear that granting full statehood to the West Bank overlooking Israeli population centers would create an even deadlier security threat. And while Palestinian statehood is often discussed as a moral imperative, it's worth remembering that Israel has legitimate moral and security concerns, too. No country on earth is expected to agree to a peace arrangement that leaves its citizens more vulnerable to attack. And there's also the question of incentives. When countries recognize Palestine without any conditions, they effectively reward

the Palestinian leadership without requiring them to make concessions, like recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, ending incitement or disarming militant groups. In theory, recognition should be the final step of a peace process, part of a negotiated settlement where both sides agree to live in peace. Doing it unilaterally, though, well, that flips the script, giving away the political prize without securing the promised peace in return. Now, none of this is to say that Palestinians don't have legitimate grievances, of course they do, or that their aspirations for self-determination aren't real, of course they are. The economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza is, well, frankly awful. Generations have grown up amid occupation, war, and political failure.

But the uncomfortable truth is that Palestinian suffering has been prolonged not only by Israeli policies, but by the decisions of their own citizens and leaders, leaders who have too often chosen confrontation and violence over compromise. If the goal is genuine peace, that means fostering leaders and institutions that prioritize coexistence, not conflict, That's not something that can be imposed by foreign recognition. It has to be built from within. So if recognition isn't the answer, well, it's a good question to ask what is. Well, it won't surprise you to hear that there's no easy fix. That's not a statement of rocket science. However, perhaps there are steps. They could move both sides closer to peace. First, there has to be

real political reform within Palestinian leadership, building accountable, corruption-free institutions that are genuinely committed to coexistence. Without that, any state will be built on shaky ground. Second, Israel's security has to be guaranteed. That means any peace plan must include measures like demilitarized Palestinian territories and robust international monitoring to ensure those terms are upheld. And third, the Palestinian economy needs a foundation for growth. Investment in development projects and improve daily life

and create interdependencies between Israelis and Palestinians are essential to breaking the cycle of hostility. Finally, peace has to be built from the ground up, not just brokered in conference rooms. Grassroots engagements, people-to-people programs, joint ventures, cultural exchanges can help build the trust that political deals alone can't create. Now, obviously, these aren't quick solutions.

They're not even short-to-med term solutions. They're long-term solutions, and they're very complex. Under the current circumstances, well, they'd be nearly impossible to implement. But they do address the root problems, something that unilateral recognition doesn't necessarily do. Australia's decision to recognize a Palestinian state will be applauded in some self-righteous diplomatic circles, already has been. But for those who've watched decades of failed peace efforts, the move feels less like a solution and more like a symbolic gesture. A Palestinian state could one day be part of the answer to peace. But without the political will, the security arrangements,

leadership to make it work, recognition risks becoming just another in a long line of well-intentioned moves that don't change the realities on the ground. For now, the hard truth is, peace won't come from proclamations in Canberra or Paris, Ottawa, or London. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday, the 13th of August. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show at free. Well, become a premium member of the president's daily brief. It's very easy. All you have to do is visit pdb premium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. Whether it's the funds

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