The new Palestinian prime minister is a former World Bank executive who vows to fight corruption and waste. The finance minister worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers International. The foreign ministry is helmed by a woman with a U.S. doctorate and deep experience in human rights.

By many measures, the new Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is just what the U.S. and others want for a future Palestinian state that could extend its rule to a postwar Gaza: a modern, technocratic group focused on solving problems.

But as a series of interviews in the administrative capital of Ramallah and elsewhere shows, the chances of success are low and the reasons many. The administration is bloated and inefficient. The economy is collapsing after Israel barred 150,000 West Bankers from entering to work and withheld tax receipts needed to pay Palestinian public employees. And Israeli settler violence is increasing.

“We need someone to say to Israel: ‘This is a dire situation,’” said Varsin Agabekyan, minister of state for foreign affairs. “At the end of the day people need to find bread and butter on the table.” She added of the new group of leaders: “All of us come from prominent positions and we have left everything to come in and put all our energy and effort in making this work.”

Israel is waging a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip to disable the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, has resisted U.S. calls to allow the Palestinian Authority to extend its mandate over Gaza, and rejects the goal of an independent Palestinian state.

Israel’s official position — even Netanyahu’s - was once in favor of two states. But the nation’s rightward drift, along with the trauma of the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7, have hardened its stand to focus on security. Equally, Palestinians since the attack have embraced Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union and seeks Israel’s destruction.

A survey of 830 people in the West Bank taken March 5-10 and released in mid-April shows dismal satisfaction with 88-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement (8% and 24% respectively). Approval for Hamas was 75%.

“Trust in the Palestinian Authority is at one of the lowest levels we’ve ever recorded,” said Khalil Shikaki, head of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which conducted the poll.

In the West Bank alone, gross domestic product fell by an annualized rate of 22% in the last three months of 2023, while unemployment is estimated to have more than doubled to 30%, up from 14% before the war.

Authorities forecast the Palestinian economy as a whole, including both the West Bank and Gaza, will continue to drop in 2024 by nearly 5% after cratering 33% in the fourth quarter. That’s wildly optimistic, according to Ramallah-based based economist Raja Khalidi, who expects a contraction of 25% to 30% this year.

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