(Jerusalem Post) Editorial - Beginning with the 1967 Allon Plan, Israeli control over the Jordan Valley has been a centerpiece of the security establishment's conception of the Jewish state's essential defense needs. In October 1995, almost two years after signing the Oslo Accords, then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin declared that "the security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term." 63% of Israelis said they opposed an Israeli pullout from the Jordan Valley in a survey conducted in October; 74% were opposed to having international forces in the Jordan Valley instead of IDF troops. Retired Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, tasked by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with formulating a solution in the Jordan Valley, has reportedly accepted the idea that Israeli, not American forces, must remain on the ground there.
2013-12-31 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive