Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution: Alive or Dead?

 

Two seemingly contradictory news reports within the space of 48 hours have thrown into doubt the possible implementation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution (HKOPS) to end the unresolved 100-year conflict between Jews and Arabs.

HKOPS emanated in Saudi Arabia and was published in the Saudi-Government controlled Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 – and was subsequently amended – but the amended version was not published by Al Arabiya.

HKOPS called for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity - to be governed by Jordan’s current Hashemite rulers – with its capital located in Amman – not Jerusalem.

The plan’s author - Ali Shihabi – a confidant of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) – is a member of the advisory board set up by MBS to advise MBS on building a US$500 billion mega city – Neom - the size of Israel - in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

HKOPS is a potential game changer and circuit breaker since its features include:

• Trashing 21 years of Saudi Arabian and Arab League policy since 2002 calling for the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan on all of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) - with its capital in East Jerusalem
• Recognition of Jerusalem as the sole undivided capital of Israel
• Recognition of Jewish sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) for the first time in 3500 years.
• Citizenship in the newly-created entity for all Palestinian Arab refugees no matter where they currently live.

HKOPS has not been rejected in the eleven months since it was published by:

• MBS
• Jordan’s King Abdullah
• PLO Leader Mahmoud Abbas
• Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
• Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Back-channel secret talks between Israel and the PLO have fueled speculation that implementing HKOPS was included in their meetings.

On 18 May an article headlined “Biden admin pushing for Saudi-Israeli peace deal by end of year, officials say” - came as a bolt from the blue with Biden’s bold call.

The article claimed:

“Two senior U.S. officials said it's in Saudi Arabia's interest to get a normalization agreement with Israel while President Biden is in office because it would receive more bipartisan political support and legitimacy in Washington, especially when it is likely to include U.S. steps toward Saudi Arabia that would be unpopular.”

The article however contained a caveat:

“Any deal will likely include a “Palestinian component” that Israel will have to agree to. The Saudis said publicly that normalization with Israel will take place only if there is progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It is unclear what the Saudis and the U.S. will ask for and how far Netanyahu’s far-right government will go to secure a deal.”

Successfully implementing HKOPS seemed the obvious deal that Israel would be asked to negotiate to gain a full peace with Saudi Arabia.

48 hours later that expectation was dashed when the 32nd Regular Session of the Arab League Council - held in Jeddah at the Summit Level under the Chairmanship of MBS - repeated its failed 21 years- old mantra:

“We stress the importance of intensifying efforts to achieve a comprehensive and just settlement to the Palestinian issue and find real grounds for achieving peace based on the two-state solution in accordance with international references, mainly the Arab Peace Initiative, relevant international resolutions and the principles of international law, to ensure the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on Palestinian territory on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Ditching HKOPS will only serve to perpetuate the Jewish-Arab conflict – not end it.

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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

Islamic Jihad eases way for Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

The decapitation of Islamic Jihad’s senior leadership in Gaza should help facilitate negotiations to successfully implement the creation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine and end 100 years of conflict between Jews and Arabs.

The current conflict between Israel and Islamic Jihad was initiated when 100 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel from Gaza by Islamic Jihad following the death of a senior Islamic Jihad figure – Khader Adnan - after an 87 day hunger strike in an Israeli jail.

A targeted counter-response by Israel killed three Islamic Jihad commanders. A further 1000 missiles fired into Israel saw another three Islamic Jihad leaders eliminated by Israel.

A fragile ceasefire now exists.

Hamas stayed out of this current conflict – but has threatened to enter the fray if Israelis hold a Flag March through Jerusalem on 19 May to commemorate the reunification of Jerusalem following the 1967 Six Day War.

Israel and Islamic Jihad last clashed in August 2022 – when Hamas also did not become involved.

The Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published on 8 June 2022 – and subsequently amended – provides:

“The proposal for this expanded kingdom includes Jordan with its current borders, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank (areas inhabited by Palestinians that border Jordan, which means that they are not divided into islands). Hence the Israeli arguments about the need to preserve the Jordan Valley and other areas will become weak since these lands will then be under the control of a Jordanian government that has the credibility of keeping the peace with Israel. And the usual Israeli claim that it has no "peace partner" will also end."

Neither the PLO nor Hamas shall govern the new entity - whose capital will be located in Amman – not Jerusalem – which will become the capital of Israel only.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it very clear that Israel alone will be seeking complete security control over all territory west of the Jordan River in any peace agreement:

“...West of the Jordan River ... Israel and Israel alone controls security. We control the airspace, we control the ground security, underground security in case they want to do tunnels... We’re not going to commit suicide for a favourable op-ed in the New York Times”

Islamic Jihad has demonstrated once again how it and other similar terrorist groups can freely exist in Gaza – smuggling in weapons from Iran through Sudan and Sinai and target Israel without any attempt being made by Hamas to stop them.

The Hashemites could hardly be expected to fare any better.

Jordanian Member of Parliament Imad al-Adwan’s arrest on April 22 - while carrying 12 rifles and 194 pistols in his car - at an Israeli-controlled border crossing - will strengthen Netanyahu’s demand for total security control of all territory west of the Jordan River – including the Arab population of the newly-created Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine living there.

The failure of:

• Jordan’s King Abdullah
• PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
• Hamas Leader Ismael Haniyeh
• Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and
• Benjamin Netanyahu

to reject the Saudi Plan since its publication 11 months ago – could see Israel’s security concerns being agreed to - allowing the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to become a reality.

Expediting negotiations to implement the Saudi Plan will reduce increasing tension in Gaza and Judea and Samaria (West Bank) that could trigger a major humanitarian disaster.

Netanyahu’s decision to delay demolishing an illegal Bedouin encampment – Khan al-Ahmar – indicates Israel’s willingness to end – not perpetuate - conflict.

It would be a tragedy if this game-changing Saudi-based solution was consigned to the garbage bin of history before negotiations to successfully implement it have been fully exhausted.

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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

Biden needs to back Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution

 

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s visit to Saudi Arabia this weekend for talks with Saudi leaders - including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – will offer Sullivan an excellent opportunity to discuss with the Crown Prince the Saudi –based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published on June 8, 2022.

Sullivan told the Washington Institute the US was still working toward a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“Ultimately, getting to full normalization is a declared national security interest of the United States. We have been clear about that. Now as a sign of my seriousness about how much we’re focused on this, and how seriously we are taking this, I am not going to say anything further lest I upset the efforts we are undertaking on this issue.”

The pathway to such full normalization involves a resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

However this does not necessarily involve the creation of a new State between Israel and Jordan – as the New York Times reported on March 9th:

“Saudi officials have said they cannot forge normal relations with Israel — a step that would include formal diplomatic interactions and likely also trade and travel agreements — before a Palestinian state is established. But some people familiar with the discussions said they believe the Saudis, who have been building closer unofficial ties to Israel, would settle for less than that. “

The “less than that” could involve implementing the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News 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” – to be ruled by the Hashemites – with its capital being in Amman – not Jerusalem (Saudi Solution).

The Plan was authored by Ali Shihabi – a confidant of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and a member of the Crown Prince’s advisory board on Neom – a $500 billion megacity of the future being constructed in north-western Saudi Arabia on an area of land the size of Israel.

This Saudi Solution:

• Trashes the creation of a new state between Israel and Jordan – pursued by both the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas for decades – and still by the Biden administration
• Shreds Saudi Foreign Policy adopted for the last 20 years – and adopted by the Arab Peace Initiative - calling for Israel to totally withdraw from Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and enable the creation of a Palestinian state there - with its capital being in Jerusalem
• Involves the Hashemites – not the PLO or Hamas - returning to govern part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) – as the Hashemites did between 1950 and 1967.
• Recognizes Israeli sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) for the first time in 3500 years.

Remarkably Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Arab League Secretary Ahmed Aboul Gheit have not rejected this Saudi-solution in the eleven months since its publication – despite its reversal of their respective long-pursued policies.

Sullivan told the Washington Institute:

“And we are working to strengthen and expand the Abraham Accords, supporting Israel’s ultimate, final, complete integration into the Middle East region and the world. And this will be an area of continuing emphasis and focus for us over the coming period as we look to add more countries and to bring Israel even more deeply into the web of relationships in the Middle East and beyond.”

Biden’s backing for the Saudi Solution could be the circuit breaker and game changer needed to make this happen.

@IsraeliPM,@special_royal,@SecBlinken,@UN_Spokesperson, @alishihabi, @JosepBorrellF #israel, #palestine, #jordan, #saudiarabia, #middleeast

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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

May 1 showdown threatens Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine & havoc

 

A showdown between Israel’s Government and High Court of Justice on May 1, 2023 concerning the demolition and evacuation of an illegal Bedouin encampment – Khan al-Ahmar - is threatening to shred the implementation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution, cause an international uproar and create a humanitarian crisis in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza.

Three judges of the High Court of Justice on May 24, 2018 unanimously rejected a final appeal by the 200 residents of Khan al-Ahmar to demolish and evacuate its residents – finding the Government had that right “under the letter of the law”.

Two sites for their evacuation have been rejected by the residents:

• A relocation site 8.5 km. away
• Relocation to an area adjoining Abu Dis – where Israel has reportedly invested some 80 million shekels ($23.7 million) preparing infrastructure, roads, electricity, water, sewage, a health clinic and school - all on state land

Nine adjournments had been granted since 2018 until February 1st of this year when these three Judges refused to grant the newly-installed Netanyahu Government a tenth adjournment for a further four months - creating an immediate political crisis by ordering the Government to come up with a plan of evacuation by April 2, 2023 and relisting the matter for final hearing on May 1.

The Judges were oblivious apparently to the political ramifications they were causing for the Government by refusing another adjournment and demanding a timetable for demolition.

That plan of evacuation was apparently not provided by the Government to the Court by April 2.

Instead a submission has been filed in the Court by the Government arguing that only the Government should decide on the timing of any demolition – not the Court:

“The petitioners have not proven any cause which would justify court intervention in the broad discretion the political echelon has regarding the manner and timing of the implementation of the demolition orders in the [Khan al-Ahmar] compound ... the question of timing and method of implementation the [demolition] orders are influenced by wide and varied political and security considerations. As such, and bearing in mind the classified information on which these considerations are based, the position of the political echelon is that the decision regarding the question should be left in their hands...is a complex and sensitive question, the consequences of which exceed mere construction and planning laws,” and could have consequences “for Israel’s foreign relations and security.”

Up to 445,000 protestors demonstrating throughout Israel every Saturday night for the last thirteen weeks have been demanding no suggested reforms be made by the Government to the High Court’s jurisdiction to hear and determine cases brought before it.

They have now been joined by two of the demonstrators’ most-hated politicians - Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – who both unsuccessfully argued that the Government in its submission should allow the Court to make an order for Khan al-Ahmar’s demolition on May 1 – the last thing these protestors would want to see – resulting in continuing further demonstrations to prevent.

How is this looming showdown going to be avoided?

My humble opinion: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu needs to confirm to the Court that one of his senior officials has been discussing implementing the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution or alternative solutions in alleged secret back channel meetings with a senior PLO official for the last three months.

This disclosure should be sufficient for the Court to grant a further adjournment – avoiding any damaging confrontation between the Government and the Court – leaving those secret negotiations to determine the fate of Khan al-Ahmar and thousands of other illegally-built Arab structures.

What a tangled mess we weave...

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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 threatens conflict industry

 

Ten months have passed since the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution was published in Al-Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 (Saudi Solution) – yet not one word has appeared in the major international or any other news services – my publishers excepted – scarcely subjected to any analysis by the multiple think tanks, non-Government organisations [NGOs] and analysts around the world or been mentioned at the United Nations even once.

The perplexing question that needs to be answered is: 

Why this silence worldwide about a solution whose implementation promises:

• The merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be named the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine – to be ruled by the Hashemites with its capital in Amman – not Jerusalem
• Jerusalem to be the undivided capital of Israel only
• The Hashemites to retain control over the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem
• Israel to regain sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) after 3500 years
• Stateless Palestinian Arabs living anywhere in the world gaining citizenship in the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
• An end to the 100 years-old unresolved Arab-Jewish conflict

Not newsworthy enough to report for 400 foreign media representatives from 32 countries stationed in Israel?

Not sufficiently intriguing for any reporter in the past ten months to ask the following leaders at their regular press conferences for their opinion of the Saudi Solution – given none of them has voluntarily issued a media statement or comment rejecting it:

• King Abdullah of Jordan,
• Palestine Liberation Organisation President Mahmoud Abbas
• Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh
• Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
• UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?

My only explanation for the veil of silence covering this international conglomerate – that I have dubbed “the conflict industry” – is the threat they all see to their own existence if the Saudi Solution is successfully implemented and the Arab-Jewish conflict is ended.

Norman Finkelstein – a former professor famous for defending the Palestinian cause and fierce critic of Israel – admitted recently this phenomenon also exists in Ramallah – the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority:

“Whenever a cause has gone on so long as this one has, people develop an investment in its perpetuation. There are 10,000 NGOs in Ramallah now. That means 10,000 organizations which are paid for by foreign countries, mostly European, to ‘facilitate’ the peace process. And if you’re in an NGO, compared to the salaries of ordinary Palestinians, it’s quite good.”

“Ramallah is a pretty impressive lifestyle now. And so you develop a stake in perpetuating the situation. And so you don’t even want to think about realistic solutions, because part of you doesn’t even want it to end.”

“I have to admit myself – let’s say it ended tomorrow, what am I going to do tomorrow? I have to fight that.”

These culprits apparently cannot find anything to criticise in the Saudi Solution. If they did – they would have trashed it long ago in lengthy articles and detailed analysis – ridiculing it as a non-starter.

So they pretend the Saudi Solution does not exist – give it no oxygen – keep their readers in the dark about its potential to end the conflict.

A revolutionary game changer and circuit breaker – negotiations to implement the Saudi Solution are desperately needed to arrest the surging violence in Jerusalem, Gaza, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) – stoked by Syria, Iran and Lebanon.

The conflict industry stands condemned for breathlessly reporting the humanitarian disaster unfolding before its very eyes – whilst totally ignoring the Saudi Solution that could end it.

Shameful and disgusting.

@IsraeliPM,@special_royal,@SecBlinken,@UN_Spokesperson, @alishihabi, @JosepBorrellF  #israel, #palestine,#jordan, #saudiarabia, #middleeast

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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 can avoid humanitarian disaster

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine Liberation Organisation President Mahmoud Abbas need to break their silence and confirm or deny whether two of their senior officials have been discussing implementing the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution or alternative solutions in secret back channel meetings for the last two months.

Answering this question undercuts Netanyahu’s predilection for secret negotiations articulated by him on December 15, 2022:

“You know, I’m sort of a champion of a slight twist in what Woodrow Wilson said in the Versailles Peace Conference. He said he believed in open covenants, openly arrived at. I believe in open covenants, secretly arrived at or discreetly arrived at...

…"I don’t need the public fanfare, I don’t need it. You know, if you come to an agreement, it will be publicized. If you don’t come to an agreement, nothing happens. I think we can come to amazing agreements.”

That luxury is no longer available - nor is responding to reporters’ questions by “neither confirming nor denying” good enough at this critical juncture--having regard to:

• the rapidly deteriorating political, legal and security situations in Israel, Gaza and Judea/ Samaria (West Bank) and
• the reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran
• Israelis in their hundreds of thousands - demonstrating for the last 10 weeks to protect Israel’s High Court of Justice from the reforming zeal of the current Government - are probably unaware of the Court’s inexplicable intrusion into decisions properly the Government’s to make - placing these protestors own lives in jeopardy.

The High Court of Justice on May 24, 2018 rejected a final appeal by 200 residents of an illegally constructed Bedouin encampment - Khan Al Ahmar - when three judges unanimously decided the Government had the right “under the letter of the law” to demolish and evacuate its residents.

Nine adjournments had been granted since then until 1 February  this year when these three Judges refused to grant the newly-installed Netanyahu Government a tenth adjournment for a further four months - creating an immediate political crisis by ordering the Government to come up with a plan of evacuation by April 2, 2023 and relisting the matter for final hearing on May 1, 2023.

This act of judicial petulance placed the Government in an intolerable political bind that could have been avoided by simply granting the further adjournment.

Court dates are deadlines that cannot be ignored.

The Judges clearly had had enough of these adjournments - oblivious apparently to the political ramifications of what they were causing by refusing another.

Successive Governments grappling with the 2018 decision had clearly indicated the Court’s order was too controversial and inflammatory to deal with - to be put off to another date and time.

Netanyahu and Abbas now need to neutralize the April 2nd and May 1st Court-imposed deadlines.

Thousands of other illegal Arab structures similarly face demolition in Area C. Any perceived threat that they might be demolished could trigger a chain of violent protests and reactions causing a major humanitarian disaster.

Netanyahu and Abbas need to come clean and persuade the Court on 1 May — whether a plan of evacuation of Khan Al-Ahmar has been filed by 2 April  or not - that negotiations have been commenced between them to find a solution whose successful implementation will render the demolition of virtually all illegal Arab structures in Area C unnecessary.

The Saudi-based plan - calling for Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to be divided between Israel and the newly-created Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - provides such a solution.

The High Court of Justice needs to climb down from its impetuous incursion into making political decisions clearly the province of Government - by granting another adjournment.

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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

New two-state solution: Israel & Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

Indications that a new-two state solution - Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - continues to progress towards its successful implementation - were in evidence again this past week.

The demise of the two-state solution dominating the political discourse for the last 30 years - creating a new Palestinian Arab State between Israel and Jordan - was summed up beautifully by veteran New York Times Opinion Columnist Thomas Friedman last December:

“A week of reporting from Israel and the West Bank has left me feeling that the prospect for a two-state solution has all but vanished. But no one wants to formally declare it dead and buried - because categorically ruling it out would have enormous ramifications. So, diplomats, politicians and liberal Jewish organizations pretend that it still has a faint heartbeat. I do as well. But we all know that the two-state option is not in a hospital. It’s in hospice. Only a miracle cure could save it now.”

Friedman has surprisingly failed to consider a new plan to replace it - published on June 8, 2022 and emanating from Saudi Arabia: Merging Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one new territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.

This new entity will be governed by the current Hashemite rulers of Jordan and have its capital in Amman - not Jerusalem.

Friedman’s attitude is very puzzling since it was Friedman who first brought the 1993 two-state solution to the West from Saudi Arabia in an Op Ed article he wrote in the New York Times on February 17, 2002 headlined: "An Intriguing Signal From the Saudi Crown Prince".

Instead Friedman has concluded that the “most likely outcome" of the demise of the 1993 two-state solution will be:

“ a total mess that will leave Israel no longer being a bedrock of stability for the region and for its American ally, but instead, a cauldron of instability and a source of anxiety for the U.S. government.”

The following developments during the past week indicate Friedman has got it completely wrong - as implementation of the Saudi-based 2022 Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution - begun on January 24th with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s surprise visit to Jordan’s King Abdullah - continues to take root.

United Nations, international media, analysts and think tanks continue to fail to even acknowledge the existence of the 2022 two state solution:

• Abdullah and US Vice President Kamala Harris met in the White House but made no mention of their countries joint affirmation of the 1993 two-state solution.
• Abdullah met with representatives of international and US Jewish organisations in Washington when he again failed to affirm his support for the 1993 two-state solution.
• Netanyahu discussed with investors during his three-day visit to Paris the possibility of building a network of underground highway systems across Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to enable the maintenance of territorial contiguity for both Israeli settlements and Palestinian Arab towns.

Friedman is in good company - as the United Nations, international media, analysts and think tanks continue to fail to even acknowledge the existence of the 2022 two state solution.

I asked 124596 members of the International Relations (IR) & Affairs Group and 6492 members of the International Relations and Diplomacy Group on Linked In this identical question:

"Have any members of this group published an analysis of the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published on 8 June 2022?"

Their total silence has been deafening.

The High Court of Justice’s refusal to grant Israel’s Government a four month’s extension to formulate a plan to evacuate the illegal Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin encampment Court-ordered to be demolished in the West Bank may be just the catalyst needed to expedite the implementation of the 2022 two-state solution.

Amazing times indeed...

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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

Abdullah & Bibi keep moving on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

Jordan’s King Abdullah and Israel’s Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu continue their march forward to implementing the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution (Saudi Solution) – begun with their surprise meeting on 24 January clarifying that the Hashemite rulers of the newly-created entity of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) would also have custody of the Islamic Holy sites in Jerusalem.

Custodianship had not been specifically determined under the Saudi Solution and its subsequent revision.

King Abdullah’s reasons for supporting the Saudi Solution became apparent during his keynote address at the 71st National Day of Prayer in Washington last week:

“Instead of additional political process, His Majesty stated that "we need our faith: the moral imagination to trust in a better, more just world" to create peace.”

“We need the will to see our shared humanity, to rise beyond divisive rhetoric, and to establish the mutual trust that our future so sorely requires,"

The Saudi Solution trashes the two-state solution previously supported by King Abdullah Khancreating an independent Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan - and will end the divisive rhetoric that has accompanied this deeply flawed and unimplemented two-state solution for the last 30 years since first proposed:

“Today, the Palestinian problem can only be solved by redefining it. The issue in this day and age should not only be about reclaiming ancestral land as much as it is about the urgent need to have a legal identity and a universally respected citizenship that allows one to lead a normal life in the modern world.”

King Abdullah’s epiphany in backing the Saudi Solution - when he could have rejected it at any time after its publication on 8 June 2022 – augurs well for its successful implementation.

Netanyahu’s decision to ask Israel’s High Court of Justice for yet another delay in the state’s submission of plans for razing the illegal West Bank Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar – indicates Netanyahu’s steadfast commitment to implementing the Saudi Solution.

In its two-page submission the Government blamed the delay in part on the protracted two-month period it took to form the government and asked to submit an evacuation plan in four months marking the ninth time Israel has sought to push the matter back.

Netanyahu’s requested extension this time has added significance – being made as the implementation of the Saudi Solution has begun - one of whose revolutionary and game-changing features calls for the allocation of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) between Israel and the newly-created Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine – which would see disputes such as Khan al Ahmar become ancient history.

The era of Palestinian land grabs and European Union interference in erecting structures overnight to establish facts on the ground would be ended.

An unperturbed Netanyahu is quietly implementing the Saudi Solution

Netanyahu’s decision has caused consternation among Israel’s right wing with MK Danny Danon, chairman of World Likud and Israel’s former ambassador to the U.N stating:

“In attempting to avoid the immediate eviction of Khan al-Ahmar, the government’s response to the Supreme Court sets a dangerous precedent and gives the Palestinian Authority free rein to construct additional illegal outposts. This government was elected to change the floundering policies of the previous government rather than to continue with their oversights. It is not too late to act and evict Khan al-Ahmar.”

An unperturbed Netanyahu is quietly implementing the Saudi Solution in accordance with his stated philosophy:

“I don’t need the public fanfare, I don’t need it. You know, if you come to an agreement, it will be publicised. If you don’t come to an agreement, nothing happens. I think we can come to amazing agreements.”

The Saudi Solution continues to move forward....

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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 to control Jerusalem holy sites

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's surprise visit to see King Abdullah in Amman last week was made to assure Abdullah that custodianship of the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem would be vested in the newly-created entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - should the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria be implemented (Saudi Solution). 

Jordan is the custodian of the Islamic holy sites under the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace treaty. King Abdullah needed to know that implementation of the Saudi Solution would result in the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine becoming the successor custodian - not Saudi Arabia. 

Netanyahu's visit took place as direct contacts between Israel and Saudi Arabia have been reported. Saudi Arabia's consent would have been provided to enable Netanyahu to give Abdullah the assurance he needed. The Palace's statement confirmed that:

"King Abdullah stressed the importance of respecting the historical and legal status quo in Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif. His Majesty stressed the need to maintain calm and cease all acts of violence, in order to pave the way for a political horizon for the peace process, calling for an end to any measures that could undermine peace prospects" 

Netanyahu's assurance enables Abdullah to continue supporting the Saudi Solution - the only game in town currently providing a political horizon for the peace process. 

King Abdullah's concerns were not imagined - but soundly based. 

The Saudi Solution had not specifically allocated custodianship of the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem to the newly-created entity - speaking only of "an appropriate arrangement for the holy places"

King Abdullah needed Netanyahu‘s assurance that Israel would support Jordan's Hashemite rulers retaining custodianship of the Islamic holy sites

This issue of custodianship was shelved again when the Saudi plan was subsequently revised in an unpublished document making major changes to the published original - speaking only of giving the holy places special status - not who would be custodian. 

The original and revised versions of the Saudi Solution had been documented prior to the Israeli elections on November 1, 2022. 

After Netanyahu's confirmation as Israel's Prime Minister - Israel's new National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, had visited the Temple Mount - the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.  

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry provocatively described his visit as:  

"the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and violation of its sanctity." 

King Abdullah needed Netanyahu‘s assurance that Israel would support Jordan's Hashemite rulers retaining custodianship of the Islamic holy sites - if Abdullah was to maintain his ongoing support for implementing the Saudi Solution. 

The Palace communique gave Abdullah an exit strategy:

"The King reaffirmed Jordan's steadfast position in support of the two-state solution, which guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security."

This was indeed King Abdullah's position prior to publication of the Saudi Solution which trashed the two-state solution - consigning it to the garbage bin of history unimplemented - after being proposed by the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002. 

Abdullah has not mentioned the two-state solution once since publication of the Saudi Solution. 

He is appearing to signal re-supporting the failed two-state solution - should Israel seek during the implementation of the Saudi Solution to renegotiate the current terms of custodianship on terms unacceptable to King Abdullah. 

The United Nations, the media and its analysts, and independent analysts have totally ignored the Saudi Solution's existence since its publication in the Saudi government-controlled Al Arabiya News on June 8, 2022. None has considered the Saudi Solution newsworthy enough to report on or analyze. It's time they did. 

Netanyahu's visit to King Abdullah indicates the Saudi Solution is being implemented on the way to hopefully becoming a reality. 

Please join my Facebook Page: "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters" 

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

Jordan PLO & Hamas revise Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Plan

 

The Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine plan (Saudi Plan) - initially published in Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 - has been revised in a later document containing amendments that appear to have been made at the request of and agreed to by Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas - the three parties most affected if the Saudi Plan is successfully implemented. 

The revised version has not been published in Al Arabiya News or on any other news site. It is written in Arabic - but an English translation - a copy of which is in the writer’s possession - is very informative in clarifying certain parts of the original version which were apparently vague or unacceptable to Jordan, the PLO and Hamas.

The Saudi Plan calls for Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to be merged into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine. This plan trashes the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab State between Israel and Jordan - the solution proposed by:

• The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, 
• The United Nations - after adopting Security Council Resolution 2334 in 2016, 
• The 2020 Trump Peace Plan - and 
• Jordan and the PLO since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords

The major changes to the published version of the Saudi Plan made in the revised version are:

• The area of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to be included in the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - approximately 70% in the published version - has been reduced to about 30% in the revised version. 

This concession would purportedly weaken Israel’s claim to sovereignty in the Jordan Valley - 87% of which is situated in Area C - currently under Israel’s full administrative and security control.

The possibility that Israel could regain sovereignty in up to 90% of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) for the first time in 3000 years - with Jordan, PLO and Hamas consensus - is a potential game changer.

• The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - will be under Hashemite rule. The original version did not designate who would be its ruler. 

• Important changes have been made in relation to Jerusalem:

The original version states: 

"The formal relinquishment of any claims to Jerusalem (with an appropriate arrangement for the holy places)" will be "a key bargaining chip in Palestinian hands".

The revised version states:

"The formal renunciation of Jerusalem (while giving the Holy Places special status)" will be a major bargaining chip in the hands of the Palestinians."

Sole Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem is now promised - if agreement on all other issues can be resolved. 

Under the radar contact already commenced between Israel and Saudi Arabia will certainly focus on implementing the revised version - not the published version. 

I reached out to the author of both the original and revised versions - Ali Shihabi - asking him to explain why his original published plan was substantially revised and not published. 

I offered to publish his reasons verbatim in an article which I would submit to him to approve before publication. Shihabi has not replied to my request. 

Shihabi might be more forthcoming if contacted by any of the following - who have not even acknowledged the existence of the Saudi Plan since its original publication:

• Joe Biden, 
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, 
• New York Times Op Ed writer Thomas Friedman 
• Any reporter with Shihabi’s cell phone number.
• Private think tanks, 
• Israeli Non-Government Organisations, 
• Investigative journalists 

The failure of Jordan, the PLO or Hamas to reject the Saudi Plan since its initial publication seven months ago is explained by their agreement to the changes made in the revised version.

Please join my Facebook Page: "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters"

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.

Under the radar negotiations on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

Israel and Saudi Arabia have reportedly begun US-brokered peace negotiations that will be conducted far away from the media and public gaze.  Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu made that perfectly clear in his 50 minute interview on Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya TV on 15 December:

“You know, I’m sort of a champion of a slight twist in what Woodrow Wilson said in the Versailles Peace Conference. He said he believed in open covenants, openly arrived at. I believe in open covenants, secretly arrived at or discreetly arrived at. There we will have to have discussions about all the questions that you asked today and see how we can advance this. If you try to sort it out in advance you get stuck. That’s what happens. In Israel, we say “climb the tree.” Everybody climbs on their own tree and says, “I’m here, and I’m not climbing down and no matter how many ladders you give me.” I’m stuck in my tree, the other guy is stuck in his tree, and we just shout at each other across tree trunks and we never get to a meeting of the minds or an actual meeting on the ground. I think we have to take a different position. All these things need to be discussed discreetly, responsibly and, within the confines of closed meetings, openly. And once we get an agreement, then we can come out. I don’t need the public fanfare, I don’t need it. You know, if you come to an agreement, it will be publicized. If you don’t come to an agreement, nothing happens. I think we can come to amazing agreements.”

One topic for discussion will assuredly involve the implementation of the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published in Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022. Its author – Ali Shihabi – is a confidant of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister – Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and also a member of MBS’s advisory board on Neom – a US$500 billion megacity being built in north-western Saudi Arabia covering an area equal to the size of Israel.

Shihabi’s plan calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be called “The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine”  Shihabi's plan is both revolutionary and ground breaking - the best plan yet presented to end the Jewish-Arab conflict. Shihabi’s plan has not been rejected by King Abdullah (Jordan), Mahmoud Abbas (PLO) Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas) or MBS in the seven months since its publication. Yet incredibly virtually all:

• the international media, 
• Op-Ed writers, 
• University professors heading up Middle East faculty departments 
• Well-endowed private think tanks, 
• foreign-funded Israeli NGO's, 
• investigative journalists and 
• the United Nations 

have ignored acknowledging even the existence of Shihabi's plan. Their credibility is in tatters – their opinions and decisions fatally flawed without factoring in Shihabi’s plan.

The UN is now seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice - when supporting the implementation of Shihabi’s Plan would have rendered that highly-divisive decision unnecessary. 

Trashing Shihabi’s plan was a UN option - but burying this game changing plan - an alternative to the failed two-state solution proposed by the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, the 2003 Oslo Accords and Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) - requires explanation and justification. 

Had this misguided group of bedfellows treated Shihabi’s Plan with the seriousness and analysis it deserved – they might have also discovered one other critically important document: A revised version of Shihabi’s 8 June 2022 plan. 

Burying Shihabi’s plan has ironically given Israel and Jordan the freedom to negotiate under the radar amendments to Shihabi’s plan - long before their US-brokered negotiations commenced. 

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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.

David Singer——Bio and Archives

David Singer is an Australian Lawyer, a Foundation Member of the International Analyst Network and Convenor of Jordan is Palestine International—an organization calling for sovereignty of the West Bank and Gaza to be allocated between Israel and Jordan as the two successor States to the Mandate for Palestine. Previous articles written by him can be found at: jordanispalestine.blogspot.com

Bibi forced to move early on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine plan

 

Bibi Netanyahu's time for confirmation as Israel's next Prime Minister runs out on December 21st after six weeks of the tail wagging the dog - parties with few Knesset members using their small but strategic numbers to try to extract concessions from Netanyahu for their support - that Netanyahu has obviously been resisting. 

Faced with this looming reality - Netanyahu has been forced to move early on his election promise made to Israeli voters on October 22nd:

"I think the big prize is peace with Saudi Arabia, which I intend to achieve if I go back into office… The rise of Israeli power facilitated the Abraham Accords, and the continual nurturing of Israeli power will also nurture a broader peace with Saudi Arabia and nearly all of the rest of the Arab world. I intend to bring the Arab-Israeli conflict to a close."

In an extraordinary 52 minute interview on Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya TV on 15 December - Netanyahu pointed out for the benefit of those Israeli political party leaders who are his main stumbling blocks to becoming Prime Minister - the opportunity Israel would miss to end the 100 years-old Arab-Jewish conflict - if Netanyahu is not Israel's next Prime Minister. He warned them:

"The other parties are joining me. I'm not joining them"

Netanyahu –repeating his election promise - told Al Arabiya:

"I think the peace with Saudi Arabia will serve two purposes: It will be a quantum leap for an overall peace between Israel and the Arab world, it will change our region in ways that are unimaginable and I think it will facilitate, ultimately, a Palestinian-Israeli peace. I believe in that. I intend to pursue it."

Netanyahu continued: 

"The reason we've not had an Israeli-Palestinian peace is because the Palestinian… leadership for the last century has refused to do what is finally happening in the rest of the Arab world -- and that is to recognize that the State of Israel is here to stay."

A new solution to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace authored by Ali Shihabi - a close confidant of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister -Mohammed Bin Salman - was published by Al Arabiya news on June 8, 2022--but has amazingly received virtually no mention or scrutiny in the international media or at the United Nations in the six months since its release. 

The plan recognises:

"Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted  ..."

The plan calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with unrestricted citizenship being offered to the Arab populations of Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank and the refugee camps located in Syria and Lebanon.

Netanyahu - significantly –told Al Arabiya viewers:

"I think coming to a solution with the Palestinians will require out of the box thinking, will require new thinking."

The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution is certainly the most creative plan ever proposed to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--its author declaring:

"The Palestinian problem can only be solved today if it is redefined. The issue in this day and age for people should be not so much the ownership of ancestral land but more the critical need to have a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world."

Netanyahu is offering his potential coalition partners a choice: Drop demands Bibi cannot accept and back him in as Prime Minister or miss this best opportunity ever to end the unresolved 100 years-old Jewish-Arab conflict. 

December 21st is Israel's Judgement Day. 

Please join my Facebook Page: "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters" 

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.

Israel set to uncork Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine genie at UN

 

Israel is readying to uncork the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine genie at the United Nations - ending UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process Torr Wennesland’s efforts to keep the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution (Saudi Solution) from being discussed as a replacement for the failed UN 20 years-old two state solution. 

The Saudi Solution was published on 8 June 2022 in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News. Its author - Ali Shihabi - advises Saudi Arabia’s King-designate, Crown Prince and Prime Minister - Mohammed Bin Salman - on the development of Neom - a new $500 billion mega city the size of Israel

The Saudi Solution calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - having its capital in Amman -not Jerusalem. 

It supersedes the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative - spawned by Saudi Arabia and embraced by the UN -which calls for:

"the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital."

The UN stands to become totally irrelevant if it continues to refuse to discuss the Saudi Solution following Danny Danon - Israel's former ambassador to the United Nations - claiming at the first Abraham Accords Global Leadership Summit - that Saudi Arabia may be one of the next nations to normalize relations with Israel.  

Danon stated:

"We have been in contact with the Saudis for years. I worked personally with them at the United Nations on matters of regional stability and security. It’s just a matter of time before courageous leaders step out of the shadows and full peace is achieved between all the children of Abraham. .. I expect we’ll see an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia this year"

This was good news for those seeking an end to the 100 years-old Jewish/Arab conflict - but bad news for the UN which continues to stubbornly support the two-state solution whilst refusing to even acknowledge the existence of the game-changing Saudi Solution since its publication six months ago.  

It beggars belief that on 30 November the UN General Assembly adopted five resolutions on the questions of Palestine and the Middle East without one speaker uttering the words - "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution" - whose successful implementation would see the Arab populations in Gaza, part of the West Bank and the wretched UNRWA camps in Lebanon and Syria becoming citizens of that newly-created territorial entity. 

Cheikh Niang (Senegal)- Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People - introduced its annual report containing developments relating to the question of Palestine between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022 - which contained not one reference to the Saudi Solution in its 27 pages. 

Israeli Prime Minister designate Bibi Netanyahu has made his intentions crystal-clear:

"I think the big prize is peace with Saudi Arabia, which I intend to achieve if I go back into office… The rise of Israeli power facilitated the Abraham Accords, and the continual nurturing of Israeli power will also nurture a broader peace with Saudi Arabia and nearly all of the rest of the Arab world. I intend to bring the Arab-Israeli conflict to a close."

The 2022 Saudi Solution offers Israel:

• sole sovereignty in Jerusalem, 
• sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and 
• abandonment of the 74 years-old Arab claim to return to Israel

The UN must respond to the hope of peace offered by the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine genie.  

Please join my Facebook Page: "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters"  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.

NYT needs to end silence on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

The visit to Hebron this week by New York Times (NYT) columnist Thomas Friedman and Kathleen Kingsbury, The New York Times' Opinion Editor could see the NYT finally breaking its silence on the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine proposal published in the Saudi Arabian government-controlled Al Arabiya News on June 8, 2022. 

This new plan is certainly newsworthy: The merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be named The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - to be governed by the Hashemite dynasty that has ruled Jordan for the last 100 years and will have its capital located in Amman – not Jerusalem (Saudi Plan).

The NYT is not on its own.  

The international media has almost universally ignored the Saudi Plan – which supersedes the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative – originally formulated by Thomas Friedman himself - as his NYT op-ed dated 17 February 2002 reveals:

"Earlier this month, I wrote a column suggesting that the 22 members of the Arab League, at their summit in Beirut on March 27 and 28, make a simple, clear-cut proposal to Israel to break the Israeli-Palestinian impasse: In return for a total withdrawal by Israel to the June 4, 1967, lines, and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the 22 members of the Arab League would offer Israel full diplomatic relations, normalized trade and security guarantees. Full withdrawal, in accord with U.N. Resolution 242, for full peace between Israel and the entire Arab world. Why not?"

Friedman was surprised when he dared mention his idea to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and de facto ruler – Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud - at a dinner a few days later

"After I laid out this idea, the crown prince looked at me with mock astonishment and said, ''Have you broken into my desk?'' ''No,'' I said, wondering what he was talking about... ''... I have drafted a speech along those lines. My thinking was to deliver it before the Arab summit and try to mobilize the entire Arab world behind it. The speech is written, and it is in my desk.  

Friedman then proffered this advice to the Crown Prince:

"I suggested to the crown Prince that if he felt so strongly about this idea, even in draft form, why not put it on the record--only then would anyone take it seriously. He said he would think about it. The next day his office called, reviewed the crown prince's quotations and said, Go ahead, put them on the record. So here they are."

Thus was born the Friedman-inspired 2002 Arab Peace Initiative - which has gone nowhere in the last 20 years. 

The 2022 Saudi Plan - authored by Ali Shihabi - a close confidant of Saudi Arabia's current Crown Prince and de facto ruler  – Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) –shreds Friedman's 2002 idea – offering in its place a drastically different solution to end the 100 years-old Jewish-Arab conflict - if negotiations to implement it are successfully completed.

Yet Friedman has not written one word about Shihabi's proposal in the six months since its publication--despite my personal request to him to do so. Sour grapes perhaps?  

However why has the NYT not informed its readers of this Saudi Plan - that also offers Israel sole sovereignty in Jerusalem and in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank)? If that's not front page news--what is? 

Could a well-resourced NYT investigative journalist with Saudi contacts find out whether a plan similar to Shihabi's is in MBS's desk or ask MBS directly whether he endorses Shihabi's plan? 

Thomas Friedman and Kathleen Kingsbury – some answers and an op-ed please. 

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.

RIP UN two-State solution, Hello Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

The United Nations  two-State solution - first proposed on November 29, 1947 - needs to be finally buried and replaced with the Saudi peace solution proposed on June 8, 2022. 

The 1947 UN solution: Creating one Jewish State and one Arab state between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea (UN two-State solution) - was aimed at ending the Arab-Jewish conflict in Western Palestine which had then been raging for the previous 50 years.

This proposal was accepted by the Jews but rejected by the Arabs - becoming the catalyst for the War that broke out in May 1948.  

The Arabs ended up controlling some 22% of the territory between the River and the Sea. The major part was unified with Eastern Palestine located east of the Jordan River - (granted independence in 1946 as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan) - and renamed the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1950. The balance - the Gaza Strip -was occupied and administered by Egypt. 

The founding document of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1964 (PLO) expressly disavowed any claim to sovereignty "over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" and "the Gaza Strip". 

It was only in 1968 - after Jordan and Egypt had lost these lands to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War - that the PLO began to agitate for an independent Arab state west of the Jordan River - employing terrorism to try and achieve it. The PLO strategy failed. However the long-dormant UN two-State solution was resurrected by the international community in:

• 1980: Venice Declaration 
• 1993: Oslo Accords
• 2002: Arab Peace Initiative.
• 2003: President Bush Roadmap 
• 2011: President Obama 
• 2020: President Trump 

Powerful backers indeed - but no such two-State solution has appeared a remote possibility for the last forty years.

A radically-different proposal however surfaced in Saudi Arabia on June 8, 2022 that was both revolutionary and ground-breaking: Merge Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - no new Arab State between the River and the Sea. 

The UN's response has been disgraceful.

Instead of welcoming this Saudi proposal and the prospects its successful implementation offers for ending the Jewish-Arab conflict - the UN has failed to even acknowledge its existence - denying it any oxygen, exposure or traction in the UN. 

Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Process Torr Wennesland have made no public comments whatsoever on the Saudi proposal or included any reference to it in their monthly reports to the Security Council since its release. 

They need to break their silence. 

Until they do - they remain compromised and conflicted. 

A UN closed forum convened on 8 November by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) with Civil Society Organizations (CSO's) from "Palestine" Israel and the United States "Advocating for Accountability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" --asserted  that "Safeguarding the two-State solution" remained their prime objective. 

Not one of them apparently mentioned the Saudi proposal - whose successful implementation would put them all out of business by finally ending a conflict that has defied resolution for more than 100 years. 

Guterres continued parroting the UN's commitment to the two-state solution on November 22 - without mentioning the Saudi solution - which needs to be aired and debated in the UN General Assembly, Security Council and CEIRPP and no longer suppressed. 

The UN's 75 years-old failed two-State solution to end the Jewish-Arab conflict has well and truly passed its use by date. The time has come for the UN to adopt the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution to replace it. 

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 key to ending Jew-bashing at UN

 

The United Nations favourite sport - Jew bashing - was on full display this past week at the 77th Session of the United Nations Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) - which approved six draft resolutions - all highly critical of Israel. 

One of these draft resolutions - approved by 98 voting in favour to 17 against, - with 52 abstentions--was titled "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem" (document A/C.4/77/L.12/Rev.1).

By its terms, the UN General Assembly would demand that Israel cease: 

"all measures that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people, including the killing and injuring of civilians, the arbitrary detention and imprisonment of civilians, the forced displacement of civilians, the transfer of its own population into the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem" 

and that:

"the General Assembly should request the International Court of Justice to render urgently an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967"

Vituperative verbal attacks on the Jewish State made by Bangladesh, Venezuela, South Africa, Iran, Libya, Niger, Türkiye, Algeria, Brunei Darussalam, Namibia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Japan, Qatar, Lebanon, Sudan, Malaysia and Yemen ensured Jew-bashing would continue at the United Nations whilst the 100 years-old Arab-Jewish conflict remains unresolved. 

Yet the implementation of a recently-published proposal that could end that conflict and similar future acrimonious debates was never raised or discussed. 

That proposal - published on June 8, 2022 in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News by Ali Shihabi - a confidant of Crown Prince and Saudi Arabian Prime Minister - Mohammed Bin Salman (Saudi Solution):

• Recognises Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted, however grudgingly, by the region around it.
• Calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - with its capital in Amman - not Jerusalem - to be governed by the current Hashemite dynasty ruling in Jordan
• Supersedes the 2002 Saudi-inspired Arab Peace Initiative
• Ends the 74 years old Palestinian Arab claim to the right of return to live in Israel.
• Grants citizenship and passports to all Arab residents living within the new entity's borders 
• Does not require any of the entity's population to pack up and move elsewhere. 
• Offers Palestinian Arab refugees the right to resettle there and acquire citizenship
• Recognises sole Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem
• Affirms Jordan's custodianship of the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem

Successful implementation of this Saudi Solution would immeasurably free up the UN's time to deal with other unresolved and emerging world conflicts. 

The fact that this ground-breaking and - indeed revolutionary - Saudi Solution has never been discussed by the UN General Assembly, Security Council or any of its Committees - its very existence not even being acknowledged by any of them - is a damning indictment on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Torr Wennesland. 

The UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People - whose 2022 Annual Report fails to mention the Saudi Solution - is also expressly complicit. 

The UN has become hopelessly conflicted - burying the Saudi Solution rather than considering it to replace its owned failed two-state solution to create an independent Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan that has gone nowhere in the last 20 years. 

Failure to examine and evaluate the Saudi Solution threatens the UN's relevance and continued existence. 

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.

MBS & King Abdullah keep Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine alive

 

Non-participation by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister – Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)  – and Jordan’s King Abdullah at the 31st Summit of the Arab League held in Algiers on 1 and 2 November – even via Zoom  - was highly significant – signalling that the Saudi-based plan to merge  Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine (HKoP solution) still remains a viable solution to replace the failed 20 years-old two-state solution proposed by the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative (API) - endorsed yet again in Algiers. 

Saudi Arabia, the EU, and the Arab League had previously held a closed ministerial meeting on 21 September to activate the API - given the absence of any prospect for a political resolution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This September meeting followed publication of the HKoP solution in Al Arabiya News on 8 June – amazingly attracting no mention at the UN and scant attention in the international media and more importantly within Israel and Israel’s media. 

The HKoP solution was certainly newsworthy since it offered Israel:

• Sole sovereignty in Jerusalem
• Abandonment of the right of Palestinian Arabs to return to Israel
• No separate Palestinian State between Israel and Jordan
• The shelving of the API 
• Sovereignty in part of the West Bank for the first time in 3000 years.

The HKoP solution also offered the Arab populations of Gaza, the West Bank and Palestinian Arab refugees in other locations:

• “a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world. Labor in this day and age is mobile and having citizenship in a country that facilitates such mobility is critical to human development.”
• “Palestinians in Arab countries like Lebanon can then become citizens of this enlarged kingdom while also getting full residency rights in Lebanon, equivalent to what an EU citizen has in the European Union outside his or her home country. This would allow the Palestinians to gain full civil rights as legal foreign residents without impacting the local political or sectarian balance in these countries. The GCC, the EU, the US, Canada, and others can also help support this solution by granting this Jordanian–Palestinian passport easier access to their labor markets.”

The Saudi proposal’s author - Ali Shihabi – is a confidant of MBS and a member of the Advisory Board  appointed by MBS to report to him on the building of a new US$500 billion mega city – Neom - in northern Saudi Arabia bordering Israel. 

Shihabi had lamented on the absence of a response from any Israeli politician to his plan on 14 August. This lack of Israeli interest was ongoing when the 21 September meeting agreed:

“to work with regional and international partners to shed light on the tragic situation of the Palestinians in light of the deadlock in the peace process and the absence of any glimmer of hope and to urge them to take practical steps to support the resumption of dialogue on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, United Nations resolutions and relevant peace references, in addition to reviving the diplomatic track to overcome the despair and lack of a vision toward achieving the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and establishing their state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

MBS was not at this meeting but was subsequently appointed Saudi Arabia’s Prime Minister on 27 September. MBS, 

King Abdullah, PLO Leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh have not rejected the HKoP solution. 

MBS and King Abdullah’s non-participation at Algiers offers the glimmer of hope that the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine can soon become a conflict-ending reality. 

 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.

Netanyahu victory paves way for Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

Bibi Netanyahu’s triumphal return as Israel’s next Prime Minister affords him the opportunity to fulfil one of his major election promises: Ending the 100-years old unresolved Arab-Jewish conflict. 

It has been a long and arduous road for Netanyahu to travel since he told the United Nations on December 11, 1984:

“Those who accept the notion of a Palestinian people must therefore wonder: how many Palestinian Arab peoples are there? Is there a western Palestinian Arab people and, just across that narrow stream known as the Jordan River an eastern Palestinian Arab people? How many Arab States in Palestine does Palestinian self-determination require? Clearly, in eastern and western Palestine there are only two peoples, the Arabs and the Jews; and, just as clearly, there are only two States in that area, Jordan and Israel. The Arab State of Jordan, containing some 3 million Arabs, does not allow a single Jew 10 live there. It contains four fifths of the territory originally allocated by the predecessor of the United Nations. the League of Nations, for the Jewish national home. The other State, Israel, has a population of a little over 4 million, of which one sixth IS Arab. It contains less than one fifth of the territory originally allocated to the Jews under the Mandate. The claim of self-determination, then, is misleading, for the inhabitants of Jordan which,  incidentally, Hussein's grandfather, King Abdullah, wanted originally to call the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - are largely Palestinian Arabs, and within that population, western Palestinian Arabs are the majority. It cannot be said, therefore, that the Arabs of Palestine are lacking a State or their own, the ultimate expression of self-determination. The demand for a second Palestinian Arab State in western Palestine, and the twenty-second Arab State in the world, is merely the latest attempt to push Israel back into the hopelessly vulnerable armistice lines of 1949.”

The United Nations rejected Netanyahu’s warning  - pushing ahead instead to try and create that 22nd Arab state between Israel and Jordan in territories allocated to the Jews to reconstitute the Jewish National Home under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter.  

Both the Security Council and General Assembly subsequently passed a plethora of anti-Israel resolutions using  highly-inflammatory language such as  “Occupied Palestinian Territories” and recognising two separate peoples in the process - “Jordanians” and “Palestinians” – even granting observer status to the non-existent “State of Palestine”

This 22nd Arab state still remains a figment of the UN’s warped imagination today – whilst various UN  organs seek to delegitimise and isolate Israel as an international pariah. 

A new Saudi-based proposal published on 8 June finally debunks these heinous anti-Israel longstanding UN positions :

“Jordanians and Palestinians are as similar as any people can be. They are Sunni Arabs from the same neighborhood. Merging them will not create any long-term ethnic or sectarian fault lines.” 

This Saudi-based proposal – calling for Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to be merged into one territorial entity called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with its capital in Amman – not Jerusalem - shreds the UN’s failed 22nd Arab state solution.

“The transition to an expanded Palestinian–Jordanian kingdom will then be relatively straightforward since it will simply involve the current kingdom of Jordan’s widening its writ to cover the Palestinian territories and the diaspora in a step recognized by all relevant countries”

Netanyahu’s long trek - begun in 1984 in the face of UN hostility - can hopefully soon be ended with the successful creation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine and an end to a conflict that the UN has shamefully mismanaged.

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.