In his book “Fire and Fury,” Michael Wolff cites U.S. President Donald Trump’s former strategic adviser Steve Bannon as saying the White House’s formula for solving the Middle East conflict involved Egypt’s annexation of the Gaza Strip and Jordanian administration of the West Bank as part of efforts to counter the Iranian threat. This alleged blueprint illustrates how, in contrast with the days of former President Barack Obama, Washington now sees the Palestinian issue as marginal and certainly not the cause of the crisis in the region. From this perspective, plans to shut down the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, improve the lives of descendants of Palestinian refugees in Arab countries, remove the issue of Jerusalem from the negotiating table and have Egypt annex Gaza and Jordan annex Judea and Samaria all point to a comprehensive approach to finding a solution in the face of constraints and violent Palestinian noncooperation.
Indeed, an Israeli-Palestinian agreement today appears unfeasible. The Palestinian “mantra” was and remains the destruction of Israel, the expropriation of Jerusalem as the capital of “Palestine” and the realization of the Palestinian refugees’ claim of return for Israel’s demographic demise. Hardly any Israelis believe the Palestinians’ double talk on peace. These are of course the same people who glorify the shahidim in their media outlets and on social media networks, in mosques and in town squares, compensate the attackers for their trouble when they sit in jail and of course sometimes carry out the attacks themselves.
The idea of a federation with Jordan was previously suggested by the late King Hussein of Jordan, and rumor has it that under former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, Cairo had been willing to annex the Gaza Strip and expand its territory in the Sinai. It turns out that the annexation of the territories to their countries of origin prior to 1967 remains the only viable solution despite Egypt’s distrust of Hamas due to the organization’s assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood as well as Islamic State’s operatives in the Sinai Peninsula. Jordan and the Palestinians are also not without their misgivings as a result of the Black September events of 1970 and the PA’s continuing subversive moves against the Jordanians at Al-Aqsa mosque. Add to this Jordanian fears the Palestinians would attempt to turn Jordan into something of an alternative homeland. After all, the Palestinians have always acted to undermine their hosts, whether in Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria or Jordan.
The possibility for lasting peace between the Palestinians in Gaza and those in the West Bank is itself negligible as a result of the motives of their patrons, the Iranians, Qataris and Turks. In such a sectarian situation, there is no chance for the Palestinians to devote themselves to attaining peace with us of all people. If reality is any indication, then there is nothing substantive behind the Palestinian nationalist facade that holds there is a common narrative connecting the descendants of refugees and immigrants to the tribal, religious, rural and urban groups that are at odds with one another. Blood and hatred run deep between Gaza, with its conservative Egyptian leanings, and the open and elitist Jordanian West Bank. The only “national” line that connects the two is terrorism, hatred of Israel, envy of its achievements and a desire to build upon its ruins. The PA’s security cooperation with Israel serves its own interests following Hamas’ 2006 military coup against the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and as a result of that organization’s ongoing subversion in the West Bank. It is not a preface to long-coveted peace. Hamas’ refusal to part with its weapons also concerns the PA. The absurd part is that the PA is counting on Israel to spill its own blood to defeat Hamas and allow for its subsequent return to Gaza.
The establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank and the allocation of a land passage between the two are unthinkable. The forced arrangement suggested by Bannon, however, would leave the Palestinians with territorial space, autonomy and a capital in Ramallah and provide countries in the region the motivation, with Western support, to go along with the arrangement for its stabilizing abilities and their security and economic interests in light of the challenges presented by radical Islam and the Iranian threat.
As for the differences between Hamas and the PA let them fight it out, as “brothers” agreeing to differ. Who cares,….” Not me.
As for the purport of Trump’s Plan…. I think , that if what I’ve just read is accurate, that it’s doomed from the beginning. How many Israelis do you think will acquiesce to Jordan annexing Judea and Samaria. The Arab Israelis, maybe, and the more demented Lefties, including Livni and Herzog. The recent poll was 75% in favour of extending our Sovereignty to encompass YESHA. And there have been other similar polls.
There will be a huge public outcry against it. That is,,, assuming there is truth in this information. I just don’t see a smart man like Trump concocting a thing like that and expecting it to succeed. There must be a lot more to the Plan and not anything about Judea and Samaria annexed by Jordan, a classic failed state, propped up by the US and Israel.
The President would be far smarter to back the Zahran Plan that “Jordan is Palestine”.