There's been a new and tragic development in Gaza that underscores something we've been saying for years: The proposed "two-state solution" won't work in the Middle East.

Nobody's been listening, though, because it's assumed now by virtually everyone that it's the only workable path to Mideast peace.

Israel and "Palestine" (another Arab state in the midst of a vast Middle Eastern sea of Arab states) will live, side-by-side, happily ever after.

At least, that's the plan.

It's been endorsed by the Quartet—the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia.

Maybe it looks good on paper, but like I said, it won't work.

The main reason it's not workable is that the Palestinians cannot govern themselves.

Please don't misunderstand me. I have Palestinian friends. Back in the 1990s, when we could still take our tour groups to Jericho, Bethlehem, and other places in the West Bank, we did a lot of business with Palestinian shop owners. Our tour groups would sit in restaurants, having lunch, with Palestinian people sitting all around us. Our people loved getting their photos taken with the PA soldiers—and the soldiers loved it, too.

Jericho_Bethlehem1999

All of that having been said, however, the fact is that the Palestinians, as a group, aren't anywhere close to being ready to govern themselves. They probably never will be. I understand the risks of stereotyping an entire ethnic group; but in this instance, I'll chance it: Too many of the Palestinians are uncivilized, impulsive, and devoid of any guiding principle other than the dictum that says they must destroy the Jews at any cost.

In Genesis 16:12, the Angel of the LORD told Hagar that her son, Ishmael, would be "... a wild man; His hand [shall be] against every man, And every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."

Literally, that first phrase should be translated "a wild (donkey of a) man." The New Topical Textbook says this phrase encompasses several nuances of meaning:

• To be wild and savage
• To be warlike and predatory
• To be independent

"Independent," of course, can mean not subject to authority.

In the parlance of parenting, we might say, "Does not play well with others."

Again, saying that all Palestinians (including some very wonderful Palestinian believers in Jesus) are evil or bad is problematic; however, there are certain characteristics that tend to be true of them collectively (i.e., as a people).

If you put a rat in a cage with a boa constrictor, you know what's going to happen. it's a matter of chemistry—and it's extremely predictable. What it boils down to is that the rat is going to do what rats do and the snake is going to do what snakes do. And only one of them will come out of it alive. It's as simple as that.

If you put a Palestinian State next door to a Jewish State, the ultimate outcome is equally predictable.

The recent development in Gaza is that Hamas is turning against itself.

Hamas, you will recall, wrestled control of Gaza away from the Palestinian Authority (Fatah) in a bitter 2007 war.

Hamas operatives (evidently a splinter group of some sort) just murdered an Italian journalist, Vittorio Arrigoni, who was an outspoken supporter of the Palestinian cause.

Here's the story: click here

Mr. Arrigoni was the last person on earth Hamas should have wanted dead. He was one of their most outspoken and high profile supporters in Europe.

But they killed him anyway.

This poor man learned the hard way that when you play with a venomous snake, it will eventually bite you.

Our sympathies, of course, go out to his loved ones.

Meanwhile, Hamas sympathizers are blaming—guess who? That's right: the Israelis.

Some things never change.