Trump envoy says joint Israeli-US commission to finalize ‘conceptual’ proposal, ensure ‘contiguous territory’ for Palestinian state; urges Palestinians to join talks
By Ted Belman.
Jared Kushner just said it will take “a couple of months” to complete work on detailed West Bank maps before Israel will be able to annex settlements and the Jordan Valley.”
Accordingly, Israel can “annex” in two months. Since the settlements are not illegal according to Pres Trump, Israel can annex now and wait for two months before she has American approval. I don’t see why Israel should wait til the approval is there. Who cares. Its going to happen anyways in two months.
Also, I do not believe that detailed maps are needed. For many decades the settlements have been confined to certain boundaries agreed between the US and Israel. For starters, Israel law should be applied to all the land and people within those boundaries. And should also encompass all access roads. If the technical teams want to expand those boundaries they can do that in two months but the boundries have already been agreed upon.
So if it is not the need for technical teams, what is the delay about? Perhaps, what Kushner is trying to do is get Bibi elected on the promise of annexation. To “annex” before the elections could remove the need for Bibi to be Prime Minister and cause him to lose the elections. But the perponderance of opinion on the right is “annex” now before the elections when we can do it rather than gamble till after a government is formed. The new government may not support “annexation”.
He also said the 180-page plan “was what we got Israel to agree to”. What does that mean? At best it is a memo of understanding between the US and Israel. But no one is bound by it and certainly it doesn’t mean that Israel can’t later object to any part of it. A sort of agreed roadmap which doesn’t make it binding. This roadmap doesn’t make annexation contingent on anything. It is just an early step along the way. It reminds me when Israel was asked in 2003 to agree to the U.S. Roadmap to which it had 13 reservations, Powell said to Sharon, agree to it anyway. After all, its only a Roadmap”. He also promised in that same conversation to seriously take Israel’s reservations into account but never did.
Carpe diem.
@ Bear Klein:
Thanks, Bear. I’m happy that you mean so.
But what if the Israeli Right does not win the election? It would be high time for Lieberman to join: realising that to define Israeli borders now has a higher priority than to solve the “haredi-problem” immediately.
I am quite sure that under Gantz there is no chance to extend sovereignity! To make something together with the so called “international community” means to commit suicide or – in the best case – not make anything.
Besides half of Blue-White against the TP, not to speak about their partner, Meretz.
I wonder if the Israelis see that so clearly… We will see.
@ Robert H:
Robert you made some very good points.
@ Ted Belman:
I agree with most of you wrote. Also about mortal enemies.
And that after the Arab’s defeat it should have been normal that they loose J-S. Exactly as the Germans and the Hungarians lost big territories after being defeated in wars. 15 millions of civilians also lost their home…
Of course Israel can to do what it will alone.
But, alas, nowadays almost the whole world is enemy of Israel. Including a lot of Jews, too. They are enamored into the concept of a “palestinian state”… In that respect Israeli politicians have done a lot…look at Olmert!
Everything I wrote can be evaluated only if you did not want to work for your rights alone, but with the help of a superpower, the US.
In that case only – I mean – it is better to play according to rules, demarcating borders together with the best power Israel ever had.
@ Robert H:
If you read carefully what I wrote you would know that what you wrote was not an answer to it.
Simply put I said that detailed maps were not needed for the the land and people within those agreed boundaries. I went on to say that any expansion of those boundries could await detailed maps.
The possible exceptions you refer to should not in any way prevent the application of Israeli law to what is agreed.
Robert H Said:
I did not make reference to this fact. Now I will. The P2P provides that there is no obligation to withdraw from 100% of the territories. Accordingly, in my article The Deal of the Century is a Prelude to the Jordan Option, I ask why the vision required Israel to give some of her own land. Why indeed.
And I say to you, the Armistice Line is not a benchmark for anything so why mention it. Even if the new b ordrs are 10 times the Armistice Lines, its irrelevant.Robert H Said:
Who cares it their needs are not met. Besides they are not a people. The “Palestinians” are our mortal enemy, not our equal. We have rights. They only have spurious claims. The land is ours and we are not about to give them what they want and are not entitled to. This is not a win-win situation. It is a winner take all situation.
The 1949 war was an unfinished war which went unfinished until June 1967 when the arabs were soundly defeated. In my opinion the Jordan R became our border, not our new armistice line. Res 242 did not respect our legal right to the land when it demand that we give the land back.
By the way Btselem is also our mortal enemy.
It took 50 yrs after WWII to resolve the Belgian /Netherland border. It’s convoluted as a zipper with ‘bubbles’ of the opposite country within the other and ‘bubbles within bubbles’. See National Geographic article about a decade ago. Get over it.
„I do not believe that detailed maps are needed.” – you wrote.
With all due respect and appreciation you owe for your work for Israel, I have to disagree.
Israel’s new borders including essential parts of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley would be 4-5 times longer than the Armistice Line of 1949 („Green Line”). It is hard work to define these lines taking into consideration the geography, the Jewish and Palestinian population centers, and to satisfy the needs for continuity for both people.
You also wrote: „For many decades the settlements have been confined to certain boundaries agreed between the US and Israel.”
I am sure You are aware that it is much more complicated. In reality – at the moment – almost all of the settlements have some outposts that are not legal even according to Israeli law and that Jewish cities like Ofra are lacking valid city planing.
And the mapping job is not only to decide „the footprints” of the settlements!
E.g. I am happy that whole Etzion will be part of Israel! In case of settlement blocks with a (built or planned) security fence it is relatively easy to draw Israel’s new border. But East-Etzion has not got such thing and her „footprint” is also not 100% defined. (I, for one, would like it to include Herodion, too.)
Place of Map1: “West and East Etzion”
To plan the access roads of the 2 Palestinian enclaves ( Battir-Husan and Nahhalin) should not be too difficult, but Israel has to decide about the future of Wadi Fukin (I am for annexation) and al Jab’a.
According to the conceptual map in the „Trump-Plan”, East Etzion won’t be an isolated Israeli enclave, but part of Israel – connected to West Etzion. But this connection has to be established now! I find it not an easy task considering the Arab villages between them and the need for the crossing of the Palestinian Highway between Betlehem and Hebron.
Another topic. In my Hobby-plans I decided long ago for a Waist-Enlargement for Israel. 🙂
Place of Map2: “Waist-Enlarge-Plus-Dolev-Halamish
Pundits seem not to realise that the Conceptual Map makes such a thing – shifting the „green line” (and the security fence) south of Qalkilya to the east!
A new borderline has to be planned along Road 446 (Modi’in Illit – Nili – Ofarim). That means that the Palestinian villages closest to the BG Airport will be incorporated into Israel. The Area A Palestinians of Ni’lin, al-Mydia, Budrus, Qibya, Shuqba, Rantis and al-Lubban (17-18 thousand people) will have the same rights as those of Jerusalem. I do not think that they will be against it (see „Triangle-people”.)
The small map above also indicates that the borders of the Talmon-Dolev-Halamish block are not trivial and its connection to Nili-Na’ale has to be planned, too.
Pundits seem also not to realise another security related issue! The Conceptual Map seems to redraw the „green line” in the Northwestern part of the Jerusalem envelope – putting Israel’s border north of the Road 443 !
The following small map indicates that in this new Israeli territory a lot more Palestians live. There is no indication in the TP about their future. It has to be decided, too, as part of the mapping job, the concretization of the TP.
Place of Map3: South of Road 443
I personally would advise to make an Palestinian enclave from the villages around Har Adar and connect them to the PA-territories. A „deep-road”, connecting Bidu to al-Jib (crossing the Giv’at Zeev block) already exists.
I think, we should be happy about the Trump-plan and use it as a maybe never returning possibility to draw new borders for Israel in and around J-S, but not underestimate the work has to be done to make – even when only by the US – acceptable facts on the ground.
That is for now. There are dozens of more details have not been analised by the half dozen Israeli sources I read every day…e.g. the differences between the Jordan Valley of Netanyahu and that of Trump.
I am sorry that without the small maps I created from the newest WB map available for me, could not be included from my text edited in Word. I am also afraid that makes my text more difficult to follow.
In general I am missing the possibility to include maps in Israpundit!
https://www.btselem.org/map