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The Israeli Consensus on the Jordan Valley
(The Hill) Gregg Roman - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin declared in October 1995, "The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term." This demand mirrors the U.S. peace plan, which would allow Israel to declare sovereignty over the Jordan Valley. Israelis of all backgrounds and ideologies long have believed the conflict never was about territory. The question that motivated Palestinian rejectionism was always about Jewish sovereignty over any territory in their indigenous and ancestral homeland, and not about where and how much. Israelis are tired of waiting for a Palestinian leader who will free his people from rejectionism, so they want to end the deadlock by declaring sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria which are vital to Israel from a security, national, and historic vantage point. It will show the Palestinians that rejectionism has consequences. None of these steps precludes making a deal in the future if a Palestinian leader decides to do so. Until such time, Israel must take steps that it sees as being in its best interests, with broad support from the Israeli public. The writer is director of the Middle East Forum.