Israel's Prime Minister and candidate for re-election following the November 1, 2022 elections -Yair Lapid - refuses to make any comment on the Saudi Peace Plan published on June 8, 2022 calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.
It is unclear whether Lapid had any actual knowledge or appreciation of the Saudi Plan when--as Israel's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister - he told 26 European Union Foreign Ministers at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on 11 July that:
"It is no secret that I support a two-state solution. Unfortunately, there is no current plan for this. However, there is one thing we all need to remember. If there is eventually a Palestinian state, it must be a peace-loving democracy".
The Saudi Plan clearly consigns the idea of any Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan to the diplomatic graveyard for burial by its sponsors - the United Nations and the European Union - after forty years of failed attempts to see its creation.
The Saudi plan also promises the following outcomes:
- It would supersede two previous Saudi peace proposals in 1981 and 2002 calling for Israel to withdraw completely from the West Bank
- 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.
It beggars belief that not 1 of the 120 members of Israel's current Parliament has uttered one word that I can find anywhere supporting or rejecting the Saudi Plan.
The Saudi Plan's author - Ali Shihabi - a confidant of Saudi Arabia's next King - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman - expressed his own feelings to me at this veil of silence that had descended over every one of Israel's politicians:
"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"
Confident I could meet Shihabi's challenge - I asked Lapid, Defence Minister Gantz and Opposition Leader Netanyahu the following questions:
- When he first became aware of the Saudi plan?
- Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on 8 June 2022?
- If so--when and where were such comments published?
- 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?
- 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?
Lapid - like Gantz – failed to respond.
Netanyahu wants an assurance of complete Israeli security control west of the Jordan River - not presently promised in Shihabi's plan.
Over to you for your considered response Mr. Shihabi
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.
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