By Rachel Avraham, JERUSALEM ONLINE – Oct 12/18
Speaking at a conference sponsored by Im Tirtzu, a prominent Zionist organization in Israel, Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called for the application of Israeli sovereignty in Area C:
“During the era of Trump, we have an opportunity to act in order to apply sovereignty in places like Maale Adumim and Gush Etzion. The Bayit Ha-Yehudi Party will continue to push for the application of Israeli sovereignty, which is the right solution.” Shaked called upon Israel to build more in Judea and Samaria, stressing that Israel has “the legal and historic rights to the land.”
Middle East scholar Guy Behor, another lecturer at the Im Tirtzu conference, implied that recent changes in Europe and the Middle East render the two-state solution obsolete: “The Palestinian issue is not interesting anymore. Europe has changed. The Middle East has changed. Gaza should be connected to Egypt. In the West Bank, everyone is waiting for Abu Mazen to die.” At that point, he argued that Jordan should be the Palestinian state: “The king is so nervous about this. The solution is if the king poses problems, it is possible to overthrow him.”
However, are these ideas realistic to pursue at this point in history? Prominent Middle East scholar Dr. Mordechai Kedar believes that it is possible for Israel to annex Area C so long as it is done with the silent consent of the American administration. But in areas located outside of Area C, Dr. Kedar is a proponent of the eight-state solution. Under this peace plan, eight-autonomous city states based off of the ancient Greek model will be formed and ruled by local tribes rather than the corrupt and tyrannical Palestinian Authority or terror groups like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
Kedar’s eight-state solution is based upon the success of the Arab Gulf countries, where tribal leaders manage to maintain stability and order in homogenous kingdoms. He claimed that this is the only successful model in the Arab world, noting that in countries with multiples tribes, ethnic groups and religious faiths such as Syria and Iraq, there is zero stability. Furthermore, he believes that the Palestinian tribes will be more likely to cooperate with Israel than any Arab dictatorship or terror group ever will. Furthermore, Kedar’s eight-state solution also allows for the Palestinians to form a confederation with Jordan, an idea abhorrent to Abu Mazen but supported by the Trump administration.
However, there is one major obstacle to this proposal. In an exclusive interview, Kedar emphasized:
“Guy Behor’s idea is good but I doubt that Jordan and Egypt will volunteer to have any connection with Judea and Samaria and Gaza. Both regimes hate the Palestinians more than anything. Having them inside Jordan or Egypt is the last thing which they want. They would rather have the Palestinians giving hell to the Israelis rather than them.”
However, Kedar is not opposed to the idea of Jordan’s king abdicating: “There is no doubt that Jordan fights against Israel in every arena except the security arena around the border. A Jordanians prince named Zaid bin Raad is the head of the International Human Rights Council in Geneva. He is behind a series of decisions that are against Israel. He is directed by the king to bash Israel at every possible opportunity. Jordan was behind the decisions of UNESCO, which doesn’t recognize the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and Hebron. Many other actions they do cannot go along with the peace agreement with Jordan. Unfortunately, Israel is too silent about these things because the Israeli political arena views the peace with Jordan as a strategic asset for Jordan is a buffer zone between Israel and Iran, Iraq and Syria.”
“Jordan pushes for a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria with Jerusalem as its capital,” he noted. “This is in order to establish a Palestinian state at the expense of Israel rather than Jordan, even though the majority of Jordanians are Palestinians. The Israeli establishment wants silence too. They do not think long-term. They think of what will be today and not more. They mortgage their future for the current situation. Israel could join the international declaration for the rights of indigenous people and Israel does not do it. We Jews are a prototype of indigenous people on their land as Alan Dershowitz said. But Israel does not declare itself as indigenous in Judea and Samaria.” When asked if it would make any difference if Israel did this, Dr. Kedar answered: “At least we would have a kind of weapon. How can an indigenous people be occupiers on their forefathers land?”
I just checked on the JOL site and discovered thar Rachel Avraham’s article has now been published on that site in full, identical to the way it appears on Israpundit. That was not the case when I checked the JOL site yesterday. As I described in my earlier posts here yesterday, only and abridged version of Rachel’s article appeared there yesterday, with Guy Behor’s comment that “the King of Jordan could be replaced,” omitted.
Did Ted’s publication of Rachel’s article in full force JOL’s hand to publish the whole article? Did maybe even my modest talk-back post help? Can anyone give the inside “scoop” on this?
Obviously, we are dealing with two different articles here, although both by Rachel Ben Avraham? Did Behor and Kedar back off from some of what they told Rachel before the article was published in Jeruselem Online? Did the editor of JO cut out parts of Rachel’s article? I hope she will answer my inquiry and explain what happened in this space.
This is the interview with Mordecai Kedar as it appears on the Jerusalem Online website:
“Guy Behor’s idea is good but I doubt that Jordan and Egypt will volunteer to have any connection with Judea and Samaria and Gaza. Both regimes hate the Palestinians more than anything. Having them inside Jordan or Egypt is the last thing which they want. They would rather have the Palestinians giving hell to the Israelis rather than them.”
However, Kedar is not opposed to the idea of Jordan’s king abdicating: “There is no doubt that Jordan fights against Israel in every arena except the security arena around the border. A Jordanians prince named Zaid bin Raad is the head of the International Human Rights Council in Geneva. He is behind a series of decisions that are against Israel. He is directed by the king to bash Israel at every possible opportunity. Jordan was behind the decisions of UNESCO, which doesn’t recognize the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and Hebron. Many other actions they do cannot go along with the peace agreement with Jordan. Unfortunately, Israel is too silent about these things because the Israeli political arena views the peace with Jordan as a strategic asset for Jordan is a buffer zone between Israel and Iran, Iraq and Syria.”
“Jordan pushes for a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria with Jerusalem as its capital,” he noted. “This is in order to establish a Palestinian state at the expense of Israel rather than Jordan, even though the majority of Jordanians are Palestinians. The Israeli establishment wants silence too. They do not think long-term. They think of what will be today and not more. They mortgage their future for the current situation. Israel could join the international declaration for the rights of indigenous people and Israel does not do it. We Jews are a prototype of indigenous people on their land as Alan Dershowitz said. But Israel does not declare itself as indigenous in Judea and Samaria.” When asked if it would make any difference if Israel did this, Dr. Kedar answered: “At least we would have a kind of weapon. How can an indigenous people be occupiers on their forefathers land?”
The version of Rachel’s article that appears ion the Jerusalem Online website, which I just consulted, (https://www.jerusalemonline.com/headlines/israels-justice-minister-israel-should-annex-) does not include the following quotation from Guy Behor:
Parts of the interview with Mordecai Kedar, specifically where he mentions Guy Behor’s idea, are also missing from the version of Rachel’s article on the Jeruselem Online site. Could Rachel or someone explain this discrepancy?