Policy Adaptation and Palestinian Resilience: The Role of the Palestinian Authority

Abstract

This research explores how the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) adaptive policies toward Israeli settler strategies and international donor demands impeded its statehood transformation and undermined Palestinian social resilience (sumud). Framed by settler-colonial theory, political adaptation, and critical resilience, it contends that three decades of adaptiveness shifted the PA from a potential state-building project to an outsourced administration that ultimately bolsters rather than defies the occupation regime, within conditions of prolonged structural asymmetry and external political constraint The methodology involves vertical comparison of PA policies at critical historical moments coupled with a review of declarations before and after October 7th, 2023. Findings identify three major outcomes: facilitating the Zionist eliminationist project through “soft” mechanisms, hollowing out the Palestinian statehood project, and eroding collective and individual resilience, particularly through institutional dependency and constrained governance practices Post-October 7th analysis reveals intensified adaptive strategies—heightened security coordination, concessionary politics, and crisis-management practices—deepening Palestinian societal vulnerability amid accelerating Israeli annexation measures, while further complicating the PA’s relationship with popular legitimacy and national resilience (sumud).