The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) voted last week on a bill that opposes the establishment of a Palestinian State.  The bill explained that the creation of a Palestinian State now, or in the foreseeable future, poses an “existential danger” to the Jewish state.  A majority of 68 Knesset members voted for the bill, while 9 opposed it.  This vote was, in a way, a response to President Joe Biden’s call for a “two-state” solution. 

The trauma of October 7, experienced by the people of the mostly liberal Israeli kibbutzim in southern Israel, has made them distrustful of a Palestinian state.  This was particularly accentuated by the demonstration of support for the Hamas attacks among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.  Israelis have thus lost hope that enough Palestinians want to live alongside Israel rather than destroy it.  Moreover, the regime of Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) in the West Bank is corrupt; unpopular; and incapable of managing a functioning, non-violent state for the foreseeable future. 

Even prior to October 7, it was clear that Ramallah (the seat of the P.A.) was incapable of stopping the violence in places like Jenin, Nablus, and Tul Karem.  In fact, P.A. security personnel would oftentimes join pro-Hamas terrorists in firing on Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) personnel.

The proximity of the West Bank to Israel’s population centers is a major consideration for Israeli rejection of a Palestinian state at this time.  The P.A. has repeatedly demonstrated that it cannot enforce its own laws on its population.  It continues to fuel hatred of Israel and Jews in school curricula, print and electronic media, and the mosques, while it and Fatah officials issue hateful statements about Israel and Jews.  P.A. sports and youth minister Jibril Rajoub recently called on the International Olympic Committee to deny Israel’s participation in the Olympic games.  Abu Mazen and his colleagues continue to malign Israel throughout the world, including their appeal to the International Court of Justice to punish Israel for alleged war crimes.

The current Palestinian ruling class have demonstrated that they have no interest in peace or accommodation with Israel.  It is unlikely that a Palestinian state will be demilitarized, and the Palestinians’ reluctance to foster a school curriculum dedicated to peace and tolerance makes it suicidal for Israel to agree to such a Palestinian state.  More important, perhaps, is the fact that in open and free elections in the West Bank (or Gaza), Hamas would easily prevail, and Israel would then be faced with a lethal, jihadist, terrorist entity doing Iran’s bidding, close to its population centers.

The resolution against a Palestinian state may evoke criticism from the Biden administration, but Israel must adhere to its own interests.  Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress and his bipartisan message will, nevertheless, be attacked by the “progressive” Democrats in Congress regarding Israel’s stance on the two-state solution. 

There is a solution to the issue of Palestinian sovereign rights and self-determination.  It is not a one-state solution or a two-state solution, but a reality that already exists in Jordan, where the Palestinians constitute roughly 80% of the population.  Jordan was originally part of the Palestine Mandate, but in 1922, the British cut off the eastern portion of the land mass (approximately 78% of the original portion), creating Transjordan (renamed Jordan in 1947), which was given to the Hashemite royal family from Saudi Arabia.  Jordan’s leading political and cultural figures are Palestinians, as are most of its members of parliament and Cabinet members, including its prime ministers.

In his autobiographical book Warrior (Simon and Schuster, 1989), Israel’s late prime minister and renowned general, Ariel Sharon, or Arik, as he was affectionally called, argued against Israel complying with the Nixon administration’s request to block the Syrian invasion of Jordan in September 1970, to aid the Palestinian takeover of Jordan.  After several attempted assassinations of King Hussein by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Hussein unleashed his army against the Palestinians in what became a bloodbath, with approximately 8,000 Palestinian fighters killed.

Golda Meir, then Israel’s prime minister, complied with the U.S. request, and IDF armor was poised to attack the advancing Syrians.  Intimidated by Israel’s show of force, the Syrians halted their attack against Hussein and Jordan.

Sharon explained in his book,

In my view, Israel was facing two separate dangers, one immediate, one long-term.  The immediate danger was that if the Syrians were allowed to defeat Hussein’s army, Jordan would become a Palestinian state. In point of fact, Jordan already was a Palestinian state in everything but name. ... Such an event would create serious problems. We would then have on our long eastern border a radical Arab state that would likely become a Soviet proxy.

“On the other hand,” Sharon argued,

we were also facing a long-term danger that the Palestinian issue would weigh heavier and heavier as the years went by. ... In the long run it was the Palestinian issue that would be our true bane.  So, if it had now become possible to resolve the most crucial of these Palestinian problems, through the formal creation of a Palestinian state in Jordan, that is the direction I believe we should move in.

Sharon then rhetorically asked,

So do you think a Palestinian government in Amman will just calmly agree to let us stay on the Jordan River?  I answered that I did not believe for a moment that they would accept our presence there.  But, I said, at that point the discussion will be about where the border should be.  We will be arguing with them about territorial matters.  We will no longer be dealing with the issue of Palestinian identity and the right to political expression of their identity.

The demise of the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan is inevitable.  It is just a matter of time.  The P.A. leadership today is essentially the same PLO terrorists that were a threat to Israel in 1970.

Therefore, the best solution for both Israel and the Palestinians is a confederation between West Bank Palestinians and Jordan, with Amman as the capital and Ramallah as the administrative center in the West Bank.  The Jordan River must remain the international border between Palestine/Jordan and Israel.

Image via Pxfuel.