If the PLO is “defeated,” why are they running things in Gaza and most of Judaea and Samaria?
Hamas runs Gaza and PLO runs the WB in name only... won’t hold elections. They had 2 elections in 25 years... once after Arafat was led into town by Israeli army and given 30,000 machine guns and Israel signed papers recognizing “The PLO as the legitimate political voice of the Palestinians” the Palestinians ratified Arafat’s claim as President. Then they never held elections again (maybe they did one time have local elections) until after he died, Abbas was elevated to President, the people voted again and though he kept the office the voters gave Gaza and many WB municipal seats to Hamas.
And Israel still recognizes the PLO as the only legitimate political voice of the Palestinians even when the Palestinian people don’t. It is no accident, the PLO made that bed and its not like they are going to let Israel choose anyone but the PLO to negotiate with. (PLO, btw, is an umbrella organization of multiple terror groups, Fatah being the largest and which Arafat/Abbas led, and which Hamas is not a member)
Israel defeated the PLO because they are the PLO. Missed opportunities. Bunch of “Old White Men” in the revolutionary posture and style of Castro but way more personally corrupt. PLO rotted from the inside out. They failed to unify the people, failed to sell them a vision for their future, failed to give them opportunity, failed to give them peace... all their “liberate Palestine” BS is a distraction from their corruptions. Some of them are old-school Pan-Arabists but that is their problem, failing to let go of these dead old ideologies (that never were real) and failing see and seize opportunities to advance society at large because if they did... then they would really have to answer for their failings. So it serves their interests to keep pocketing the graft and blaming Israel while their people suffer the consequences.