Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad appears more confident than ever before in his plan to declare Palestinian statehood. Today, in an exclusive interview with Akiva Eldar of Ha'aretz, PM Fayyad stated that "the time for this baby [a Palestinan state] to be born will come and we estimate it will come around 2011."
Fayyad's confident rhetoric must be in part motivated by growing support for his proposal in the international community. A joint statement by the Middle East Quartet (U.S., Russia, E.U., and the UN) on Mar. 19 in Moscow highlighted Fayyad's efforts and unequivocally supported his plan. "The Quartet continues to support the Palestinian Authority’s plan of August 2009 for building the Palestinian state within 24 months as a demonstration of Palestinians’ serious commitment to an independent state that provides good governance, opportunity, justice, and security for the Palestinian people from the first day that it is established and is a responsible neighbor to all states in the region," the Quartet members stated.
Support from the Quartet and the greater international community along with Israel's worsening image resulting from its intransigence on settlement construction in East Jerusalem has lent additional credibility to and confidence in Fayyad's reasonable approach. Moreover, the PA has made good on many of the state-building projects originally laid out in the plan. "I envision," Fayyad said "that we will be so mature in terms of positive facts on the ground, and along the way have grown on our Israeli neighbors, we will have begun a process of transformation from a concept, to a possibility, to a reality."
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