Indeed. The whole point of negotiating a 2 state agreement is not about settlements. It is about cooperation on issues such as water (and many others).
If Palestinians do not want to negotiate then, I agree with you, Israel should announce its plans. Israel withdrew from Gaza, it can withdraw from some of the West Bank too - it doesn’t even need the Palestinians to declare a state.
What is never thought about or talked about is how much the Palestinians need Israel. Someone up-thread mentioned water, electricity and hospitals. Yes that is true. But so much more! Roads, transportation, importation and export of foods. Currency (Palestinians use Israeli currency, what are they going to do start printing their own?). Not to mention that as a state the Palestinians best friend will be Israel - Israel will be their #1 employer and #1 trading partner.
All that goes away if the Palestinians don’t negotiate a deal but go for one unilaterally.
And ultimately the reason Israel would unilaterally annex land is because there are about 400,000 Israelis living there AND because Israel’s water/sewage system is connected to the underground reservoirs there as well. Israel is not going to unilaterally relinquish water rights it has used (and has international right to use because of prior use rights) for almost 50 years.
Good post.
I am not nearly as optomistic as you are that a negotiated settlement will bring about a symbiotic or any kind of mutuality between Israel and the PLO state. My understanding, FWIW, is that the goal of Palestinian statehood is nothing less than the long-held dream of destroying Israel. One perilously underestimates the fervor of Arabs in their passionate causes and vengeance and anti-Semitism are their most passionate causes. No amount of self-interest will deter them from their goal.
The only chance of changing this reality peacefully, would be if the Palestinians were de-Nazified, the way Germany was after WWII: all anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propoganda would have to be wiped out, outlawed and replaced with an equally vigorous campaign to promote a benign, if not friendly attitude towards Israel and Jews. In other words, something impossible.
Hate to rain on your parade, but there are certain facts of life. Death. Taxes. Palestinians want to destroy Israel. That’s it.