Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine: Gantz - de Gaulle or de Goose?

 

Two statements made this past week by Israel’s current Defence Minister – Benny Gantz - could see his run for Israel’s next Prime Minister ended after it has just started. 

Gantz told Kan Reshet Bet:

"Those who, in a clear left-wing position, consider 'two states for two peoples' as a solution are living in an illusion, and those who, in a radical right-wing position, think of a state without Arabs in the West Bank, are living in a greater illusion," 

Gantz has apparently not heard of or read the 2022 Saudi Peace Plan published on June 8th - which provides for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and parts of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine. 

Implementation of the Saudi plan in the West Bank could possibly see:

• The State of Israel - sovereign in about 30% (designated green and yellow) on this leaked map -where 1% of the West Bank Arab population live.

• The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - sovereign in about the remaining 70% (designated red) -where 99% of the West Bank Arab population resides.

Constructing a network of tunnels and roads will enable this subdivision. 

Gantz committed an even bigger gaffe--telling 103 FM Radio:

"I repeat and insist that Jerusalem is the unified capital of the State of Israel ... And I do not see how we can continue towards an arrangement [with the Palestinians] in the coming years, but we must begin by initiating processes to reduce the conflict and strengthen security ... There are villages in the east that the Palestinians call Jerusalem, and they are not in the metropolitan area of Jerusalem. It is possible to define them as a capital."

These comments indicate that Gantz is totally clueless about the Saudi Plan’s following features:

• The capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine will be Amman - not Jerusalem
• Implementing the Saudi plan can be successfully concluded in months - not years – requiring negotiations to determine:
• who exercises security control in the territory of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine west of the Jordan River 
• the demarcation line between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
• custodianship of the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem

Gantz is ignorant of the Saudi Plan’s promised further outcomes:

• Abandonment of the 74 years-old claim to the right of return 
• Consigning a separate Palestinian Arab State between Jordan and Israel to the diplomatic graveyard - promoted unsuccessfully by the United Nations for the last 29 years 
• Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and stateless refugees get full citizenship in the merged Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with all the elements of sovereignty applicable to those Territories that belonging to a fully recognized state in the UN entail.

I have written to Gantz asking him to answer 5 questions for inclusion in this article:

1. When he first became aware of the Saudi plan?
2. Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on June 8, 2022?
3. If so - when and where were such comments published?
4. If he has made no comment - would he like to make any comment on the Saudi plan that I can publish verbatim and attribute to him?
5. Is he prepared to promise Israeli voters that he will use his best endeavours to implement the Saudi plan if he becomes Israel's next Prime Minister?

No response has been received. 

The Saudi Plan’s author - Ali Shihabi - sees no Israeli politician with the guts and vision of General de Gaulle to implement the Saudi Plan. 

Gantz is certainly not that de Gaulle - he is de Goose - a fool.

Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - Interviewing author Ali Shihabi

 

A plan proposed by Ali Shihabi  - a Saudi author and commentator on Middle Eastern Politics -proposing the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one single territorial entity to be called "The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine" - has received little attention in the Israeli media or been commented on by Israeli politicians since its release on 8 June.

Yet the plan contains the following features which should excite Israel’s reluctant media to be seeking responses from its political leaders:

• It would supersede two previous Saudi peace proposals in 1981 and 2002 calling for Israel to withdraw completely from the West Bank
• The two-state solution – the creation of a separate Palestinian Arab State between Jordan and Israel -  promoted unsuccessfully by the United Nations for the last 29 years – is consigned to the diplomatic graveyard 
• Amman – not Jerusalem - will be the capital of The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
• The right of return to Israel is abandoned. 
• Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and stateless refugees get full citizenship in the merged Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with all the elements of sovereignty applicable to those Territories that belonging to a fully recognized state in the UN entail.

I reached out to the author Ali Shihabi – who kindly gave me the following interview:  

1. What was your idea behind this paper?:  I see a failure of Israeli imagination in looking for a solution to the Palestine tragedy. This combined with a lack of realism dominating Palestinian thinking has provided multiple opportunities for political entrepreneurs like the Iranians to use and misuse the cause. Israelis want to perpetuate this inertia by kicking the can continuously down the road while looking for every excuse to do nothing substantive to solve this problem. Israel sees time to be on its side (and so far it has been proven right) but fundamentals like 7 million Arabs living between the river and the sea are a time bomb that eventually will blow up in their face one way or another
2. Why Jordan?: We have seen from recent experience that state building is a virtually impossible task, particularly in a polarized environment so creating a "Palestinian State" from scratch is a fool’s errand. At the same time Jordan is a decently run country by regional standards and hence its government infrastructure can be used to incorporate Palestine which will instantly have a globally recognized and respected government with all the basics like security, government bureaucracy etc. 
3. But many Jordanians don’t want anything to do with this?: Yes, a false separate "Jordanian" identity has developed over the last decades from what is really a people with zero differences, ethnic or religious that have been one people since time immemorial so that is a problem. That difference has been pushed by some Jordanian elites in a quest to perpetuate their dominance. This formula however does not eliminate Jordanian elites and preserves the monarchy and all its institutions and makes Jordan/Palestine a much more viable and strategically important state with a substantial footprint on the Mediterranean and a state critically important for regional stability, so it is really in their long-term interest. In any event if a consensus among the powers that be decides on this formula Jordanian elites can be convinced. They are a minor obstacle once you separate the noise from the substance.
4. Well, many Palestinians don’t want it also it seems: That is the million-dollar question and is one that should be decided by extensive polling and then confirmed by a plebiscite. My guess is that a majority of Palestinians defined as those that are paying the price daily for the status quo, i.e. those in Gaza, West Bank and the refugee camps in Lebanon Syria and Jordan would vote for it once it is explained clearly to them. It is important that only they should decide and not Palestinians comfortable in the diaspora with citizenships in other countries or other Arabs and Muslims who pay no price for taking an absolutist position. It easy to sit sipping your cappuccino at a Starbucks in Dubai or L.A and demand unrealistic solutions since its no skin off your and your family’s back while the people suffering from the status quo continue to pay the heavy price.
5. So, what is required here to get this process going?: Israel is the key factor. It holds most of the cards and its military, economic and political success since 1948 has made its leaders arrogant and contemptuous of the Arabs generally since the Israelis have imposed their terms on the region despite all Arab efforts and noise made in decades past. This arrogance is clouding Israeli judgement and blinding them to the opportunity that presents itself today for them to drive a sustainable peace process. They can get a lot of what they want but have to give a bit to get a sustainable solution that will integrate them into the region permanently, but this will require an Israeli De Gaulle with guts and vision, and I don’t see one on the horizon unfortunately,

Will an Israeli De Gaulle emerge to endorse Mr Shihabi’s plan as part of his platform in the upcoming Israeli elections on 1 November? 

I hope the media ask the politicians for their answers before Election Day. 

Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka "Dry Bones"- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine vote winner for Lapid, Gantz, Bibi

 

With Israeli elections due in October--the major players vying to become Israel's next Prime Minister--current caretaker PM -Yair Lapid, current Minister of Defence - Benny Gantz and current Opposition Leader - Bibi Netanyahu have yet to issue any statement on the Saudi plan released on June 8, 2022 to merge Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into a single territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine. 

The Plan's author - Ali Shihabi - is a confidante of Saudi Arabia's next King - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and a member of the Advisory Council appointed by Bin Salman advising him on his personally-driven initiative - a $500 billion development called NEOM - a megacity of the future like none other on this planet - to be built in Northern Saudi Arabia on an expanse of land equal to the size of Israel.

The Saudi Solution offers a lot to excite Lapid, Gantz, Netanyahu and their respective political parties with these game-changing features:

• The plan reverses two previous Saudi peace proposals in 1981 and 2002 calling for Israel to withdraw completely from the West Bank.
• The two-state solution - the creation of a separate Palestinian Arab State between Jordan and Israel - pushed unsuccessfully by the United Nations for the last 29 years and by the European Union since 1980- is consigned to the diplomatic graveyard
• Jerusalem will not be claimed as the capital of The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - whose capital would be Amman.
• The right of return to Israel is abandoned
• Citizenship would be offered in the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to Palestinian Arab refugees living outside the boundaries of the new entity.

Promising voters to negotiate with Jordan on implementing this Saudi Plan is an assured vote winner. 

The most contentious issues in such Israel-Jordan negotiations would be:

• Israel's security concerns in relation to the territory of the new entity West of the Jordan River -where demilitarization and responsibility for maintaining security control would be issues on the negotiating table 
• the carve up of the West Bank and Gaza - where Israel and Jordan would have a good map to focus on for starters: President Trump's 2020 Conceptual Maps "Vision for Peace" (See following diagrams)

The areas designated as "A future State of Palestine" would be the starting point for Jordan's negotiators. 

The areas designated as "The State of Israel" would be the starting point for Israel's negotiators. 

Armed only with sharp pencils, erasers and liquid paper - and motivated to emulate the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty - these negotiators could agree on the new international border between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine in literally a matter of months as well as the terms of the new peace treaty that would replace the 1994 one. 

Netanyahu and Gantz have already agreed to Israel's starting point - having approved the Trump subdivision in 2020 and the formation of a joint Mapping Committee comprising three members each from Israel and America to define the new border with greater precision.  

One could reasonably assume this would also be Lapid's starting point.

 With Operation Breaking Dawn still fresh in their minds - Lapid, Gantz and Netanyahu need to get off their high horses and break their months-long silence by:

• commenting on the Saudi Plan 
• announcing without any further delay whether negotiations with Jordan on this Saudi plan will be part of each of their parties' election platforms.

Making the Saudi Plan an election issue should not be missed by Lapid, Gantz and Netanyahu. 

If they think otherwise - they risk seeing their party being thrashed at the polling booths. 

Israel's media army needs to confront them for their urgent response. 

Author's note: The cartoon--commissioned exclusively for this article--is by Yaakov Kirschen aka "Dry Bones"- one of Israel's foremost political and social commentators--whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.

Wennesland in La-La Land ignoring Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

It is amazing to think that one of the highest ranking United Nations officials dealing with the Palestine question - Tor Wennesland - could address the Security Council on the current situation without telling that august body of a significant new proposal that could finally end this 100-years old unresolved Jewish-Arab conflict.  

That proposal - emanating from Saudi Arabia - calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one single territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.

Its author Ali Shihabi is a confidant and staunch defender of Saudi Arabia's next King - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Shihabi is a member of the Advisory Board of  NEOM - Bin Salman's proposed US$500 billion megacity of the future to be built from the ground up in Northern Saudi Arabia strategically-located on an area of land equal to the size of Israel.

Shihabi's solution was published in Al Arabiya News - reportedly 60% majority owned by the Saudi Government.  

According to MEMRI - the political editor of the Jordanian news outlet jo24.net has written: 

"This article must not be seen as a mere opinion piece published by media, since that happens [only] in democratic countries. In contrast, on the [Saudi] Al-Arabiya channel, not one letter is published without a minute examination, and therefore the article necessarily expresses Al-Arabiya's [position]"

Wennesland:

• Is the most credentialed and best informed official in the UN on developments affecting the peace process in former Palestine.
• Possesses the longest title at the UN: United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary-General's Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Quartet
• Is the focal point on the ground for UN support in all political and diplomatic efforts related to the peace process
• Heads The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) that employs 65 people - established in June 1994 following the signing of the Oslo Accords. 

Yet Wennesland addressed the Security Council on June 27, 2022 and made not one reference to the Saudi Plan which Shihabi had released just 19 days earlier. 

It seems inconceivable that Wennesland was then unaware of this Saudi plan. 

Why didn't he inform the Security Council of its existence and direct his Deputy Special Coordinator Lynn Hastings to do so one month later?  

Wennesland simply continued to trot out the old shibboleths - part of the UN's patter since 1994:

"It is crucial that all parties take immediate steps to lower tensions and reverse negative trends that undermine prospects for a peaceful two-State resolution of the conflict, with a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State."

"Settlements constitute a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions and international law. They undermine the prospect of achieving a two-State solution by systematically eroding the possibility of establishing a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State."

Why not add:

"I bring to your attention a new two-state solution emanating from Saudi Arabia on 8 June that should be considered by the Security Council to replace the two-state solution unsuccessfully pursued by the Security Council for the last 29 years." 

The Saudi plan would be finalised in direct negotiations between Israel and Jordan that would delineate the international border between The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine and Israel and resolve Israel's security concerns. 

Suffering by both Jews and Arabs meticulously recorded at length by Wennesland in his monthly reports and escalating right now would end - as would the conflict and any further need for UNSCO.  

Wennesland is in la-la land and needs to return to the real world.  

Author's note: The cartoon - commissioned exclusively for this article - is by Yaakov Kirschen aka "Dry Bones" - one of Israel's foremost political and social commentators - whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades

UN will rue burying debate on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

The United Nations Security Council has lost any authority to broker an end to the Jewish-Arab conflict - after its July 26th Quarterly Open Debate: "The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question" proceeded for 5 hours without any speaker making reference to a new solution emanating from Saudi Arabia to resolve the 100 years-old conflict.  

That Saudi solution – the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one separate territorial entity to be called "The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine"- had been published on 8 June in Al Arabiya News.

The article was written by Ali Shihabi – a confidante of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – Saudi Arabia's next King and driving force behind NEOM – a $500 billion megacity of the future to be erected in Saudi Arabia on an expanse of land the size of Israel. 

The Security Council's silence in commenting on this Saudi solution ever since its publication has been arrogant and breathtaking. 

This solution offers an alternative to the solution unsuccessfully pressed by the UN for the last 29 years: The creation of a new Arab State between Israel and Jordan. 

The Security Council had an obligation to notify UN member States of the emergence of this new solution since its last Quarterly Debate and encourage the members to consider its pros and cons as a replacement for the UN plan that was clearly dead in the water. 

The Security Council and its vast bureaucracy could certainly not claim ignorance of this Saudi proposal. 

I myself had written to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres representative Stephane Dujarric on June 30th enclosing a copy of the Al Arabiya article - inviting the Secretary-General to comment on the solution for inclusion in an article I was writing. No reply was received - so my article was published on July 4

A reminder letter sent to Dujarric on July 19 for a comment to use in future articles met the same fate.  

The roll call of those speaking at the Security Council debate without mentioning the Saudi solution is mind-boggling:

• Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt): Lynn Hastings 
• The observer for the State of Palestine 
• Representatives of Israel, United States, China, Algeria Cuba, Malaysia, South Africa, Lebanon, Japan, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Russian Federation, Albania ,Ghana, Gabon, Kenya, India, Norway, Mexico, Brazil, Iran, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, Türkiye, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Azerbaijan (speaking for the Non-Aligned Movement), Argentina, Republic of Korea.
• A representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer 
• The Permanent Observers for the Holy See, the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
• The Vice Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

Representatives of the State of Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – the parties most affected by the proposed Saudi solution - can be excused for not discussing the Saudi Plan - as they had been engaging in secret back-channel negotiations almost from the day the Saudi Plan was made public.  

By the time this Security Council debate was held, significant agreement had already been reached on acceptable starting points for those negotiations to continue. 

This debate marks one of the lowest points in United Nations history – one when it abdicated its obligation to prevent conflict and acted instead to ensure its perpetuation.

The Security Council's attempt to bury the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution rather than encourage its serious consideration - will fail. 

The Security Council has sown the seeds for its own demise.

Author's note: The cartoon--commissioned exclusively for this article--is by Yaakov Kirschen aka "Dry Bones"- one of Israel's foremost political and social commentators--whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.