Two-state solution for Israel, Palestine may open a Pandora’s box

The solution is a lovely thought, but will be easier said than done.

The Palestinians in the West Bank ruled by President Abbas and the PA? (The same Abbas, by the way, who has publicly declared that a future Palestinian state will be Judenrein. Has he not noticed there are approx. 1.6 million Palestinians who are fully fledged Israeli citizens, who enjoy equal rights, more generous than those in most surrounding Arab countries?) And what should happen if Hamas overthrows the PA, and declares all agreements The Israelis insist that any agreement with the Palestinians must be as a result of face-to-face negotiations, or warn of the consequences.

So where else can one look for a possible solution? A certain amount of thinking out-of-the-box would be welcomed and urgently required. Is it perhaps time to re-visit the period of 19481967 when Egypt was in illegal occupation (according to the UN), of Gaza, and Jordan also was in illegal occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem? Could a form of confederation be considered between the Gazan Palestinians and Egypt, and likewise between the West Bank Palestinians and Jordan? Both Egypt and Jordan have peace treaties with Israel, and both countries fear the rise of Islamist extremists. Although there is close military and intelligence co-operation today between the Egyptians and Israelis as far as Northern Sinai is concerned, both might one day welcome a security arrangement with Israel that allows them to monitor and manage extremists at source. As far as Jordan is concerned, Israel has a strategic interest in, and long-standing commitment to, the security and stability of the Hashemites.

However, such a proposal would be premature in today’s environment, and certainly fraught with complications. Firstly, both the Egyptians and Jordanians would have to attempt to sell what might be considered an unpopular change of policy to their populace. Secondly, this is not without a considerable security risk to Israel. What happens should Egypt’s Al-Sisi be replaced by someone like Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood? Or if the Hashemites are overthrown in Jordan? Could such an arrangement involve a security guarantee by the Americans? And in what form? The two issues at stake here are legitimacy and the existential threat to Israel. The Palestinians and many in the West prefer to camouflage this with the usual mantra of “occupation” and “settlements”. But history must be invoked here. Prior to 1967 there was no occupation and no settlements, not by Israel at any rate. Yet the Palestine Liberation Organisation was formed in 1964. To “liberate” what from whom, may one ask? From 1948 to 1967 the Jordanians illegally occupied Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank) and East Jerusalem, on land that was supposed to be a homeland for the Jewish people in accordance with UN international law, originating in the San Remo Conference (1920), ratified by the League of Nations in 1922. It is the only legally enforceable document that remains valid today. Therefore Israel did not “occupy” Arab lands in 1967, but recovered lands that were a priori theirs under law and according to international agreement. Christopher Dreyfus is a former member of Council of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, London

For this to happen, both the Egyptians and Jordanians would have to sell a widely unpopular change of policy to their populace.