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With Two-State Solution Increasingly Unlikely, Time to Reconsider the Jordanian Option

[Ynet News] Giora Eiland - The most that any Israeli government can offer the Palestinians (and still survive politically) is much less than the minimum that any Palestinian regime could agree to accept (and still survive politically). The real gap between the sides is huge, and it keeps on growing. With the rise of Hamas, it is clear that should a final-status agreement be secured, and should Hamas not torpedo it, there is high likelihood that a Palestinian state in the West Bank would be controlled by Hamas. For Israel, this is not only a question of "painful concessions," but rather also of taking an unreasonable risk. In addition, the conviction by Israelis that the Palestinians want "only" a small state split between Gaza and the West Bank is waning. A final-status agreement cannot be secured in the foreseeable future and the time has come to think about other solutions. One of them is a return not to the 1967 borders, but rather to the reality that prevailed in 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland is the former head of Israel's National Security Council.
2008-09-03 01:00:00
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