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Sovereignty over Jordan Valley Is Crucial to Israel's Survival
(Jerusalem Post) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amir Avivi - The first plan dealing with the Jordan Valley was drafted immediately after the 1967 Six-Day War by former Labor party minister Yigal Allon and is known as the "Allon Plan." The broad aim of the plan was to annex most of the Jordan Valley from the Jordan River to the eastern slopes of the Judean and Samarian mountain ridge in the West Bank along what is known today as the Allon Road. Former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin declared that the Jordan Valley will be forever the eastern border of the State of Israel. The biggest misconception is the assumption that the Israeli-Arab conflict is all about a land dispute regarding Judea and Samaria and once we fix this, peace will emerge. The problem is that no Palestinian leader shares this vision. The fact is that in every Palestinian Authority map, the State of Israel does not exist. In PA schools, every child is educated to hate Israel and Jews, ensuring that future generations will continue to fight Israel until every centimeter of "Palestine" is liberated. The Jordan border is 300 km. long. If Israel relinquished control, the Palestinians would be able to bring into the heart of Israel thousands of armed terrorists from all around the Middle East. Critics claim that applying Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley will undermine security cooperation with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The same threats were made when the U.S. moved its embassy to Jerusalem. But both Jordan and the PA depend on security cooperation with Israel for their survival. They need this cooperation more than Israel does. Some of have suggested ceding the Jordan Valley to the Palestinians in a 10-15-year process. This reminds me of the Iran deal logic to postpone an Iranian nuclear bomb. When you have a really bad plan, suggest implementing it in 15 years and then you will have much less antagonism because only the next generation will suffer from it. The writer has more than 30 years of military and national defense experience, concluding his service as Head of the Auditing and Consulting Department of the Israeli Defense Establishment (including the Israel Defense Forces, the Ministry of Defense and Israeli Military Industries).