Ben Cohen

And it also fought a really brutal civil war with Hamas in Gaza back in 2007, which most people have now forgotten about.

But the PA has been terribly compromised by terrorism, terribly compromised by corruption.

It has really no credibility among Palestinians.

I mean, Mahmoud Abbas, who is I think now 85 or maybe even older,

But he's been, you know, his term was supposed to end 20 years ago, but he's still there.

So, you know, when I look at polls of Palestinian opinion in the West Bank, regularly more than 90% of people want Abbas gone.

And because he's so closely identified with the PA, it's very hard for the PA to regain any kind of

credibility.

The PA was actually raised at this conference in Qatar that we were talking about earlier, but more in terms of how can we effectively bypass the PA.

So we're in a situation where I think we know a lot about who we don't want there.

right?

We don't want Hamas in there.

Israel doesn't want Turkish troops on the ground as part of the stabilization force, because Turkey has been actively backing Hamas.

Israel would be reticent about having Qatar on the ground there for the same reason, because Qatar has been one of the main sponsors of Hamas, and Doha is a home from home for Hamas.

The Four Seasons Hotel there is

is the domicile for Hamas leaders.

So we know a lot about who we don't want, and we don't really have a clear sense of who would be acceptable.

I think if Hamas was further weakened,

there might be a space might open up to have that conversation.

But I think, and this is one of the unintended yet tragic consequences of the ceasefire, is that it's actually strengthened Hamas.