Israel-Palestine-Jordan Confederation Confederation












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Questions and answers

What is a Israel-Palestinian-Jordanian confederation?

       It is a union of Israel the Palestinians and the Jordanians in the framework of a confederation of three states, open borders between them, associated in the pursuit of similar aims with guarantees of rights and security for all, enforced by a federal Court of justice.

       The solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict cannot be found in some plan of partition, but in recognizing and guaranteeing the identity and the rights of both peoples. This can only be done by associating them in developing this territory together. The confederation solution maintains the unity of the Holy Land, while still allowing for three states, in the confederal sense.

What will be the nature of such a Confederation?

      In order to better able to play its role as guarantor and to protect its own rights in the land, the State of Israel, with its boundaries adjusted to include those segments of the West Bank and Gaza needed for security purposes or so intensively settled by Israeli Jews as to be appropriately part of the Jewish state, will enter into a confederal relationship with the Jordanian-Palestinian federation. Whereas in a federal relationship a single polity is created with one overarching government, in a confederation the states that come together preserve their full political and judicial personalities while establishing certain permanent joint bodies to serve their common needs. This particularly the case in the confederations that have emerged since World War II, the first and foremost of which is the European Community.

       Such a confederal arrangement will provide for Israel and Israelis to continue to have rights and access to territories they relinquish and a share in determining critical decisions regarding those "goods" and resources such as water which are common to the entire country and do not respect state boundaries. It could involve extraterritorial status for both Jewish and Arab settlements on one or another side of the new border and obviate the necessity to either dismantle Jewish settlements or to establish entirely contiguous links between them and pre-1967 Israel. Among the tasks that could be entrusted to the confederation would be security in the West Bank and Gaza other than local police, control and distribution of common water resources, economic and fiscal coordination including the maintenance of an open labor market, and the promotion of economic development.

How Would such a confederation be governed?

      One way would be through a council whose members would be appointed by the parties involved either through the two states or, perhaps more effectively, by Israel and each of the federated states of Palestine/Jordan. If the former, voting could be on the basis pf parity. In the case of the latter, the voting would have to be weighted so that the Israeli vote would be equal that of the Arabs.

      The functions assigned to the confederation can be conducted by the confederation or assigned temporarily or permanently to one state or another. Thus, for example, Israel could be made solely or principally responsible for security matters for a set period, after which if things work well, security could become a shared function. A confederal arrangement of this kind would provide for maximum separation while maintaining the links needed by all the parties involved. The capital of the confederation could be located in Jerusalem and the Arab presence in Jerusalem could be acknowledged in this manner. Moreover, any territorial concessions would be based on an allocation of jurisdiction rather than decisions on ultimate sovereignty, either indefinitely or for an interim period.

      In sum, such a federation-confederation combination could give all the parties involved not only the peace they seek but their other demands as well. The Palestinians would get their state, albeit as a federal state rather than a separately independent one, and also a guaranteed share in the common governance of the Arab state. Jordan would continue to have a standing west of the river. Israel would get secure borders, recognition by its Arab neighbors, and a continuing relationship with those parts of the historic Land of Israel not within its full political jurisdiction. Most of all there would be peace, which by now the vast majority of the people involved seriously want.

How to achieve it?

      How do we get there from here? This program can be implemented either through the iniative of any one of the three principles involved - Israel, Hashemite Jordan, or the Palestinians - or through the good offices of the United States, or, for that matter, Egypt. What is needed is to come to the bargaining table under the leadership of a skilled negotiator who could gain consent to the general principles and then work out the details with the parties involved. There has never been opportunity for doing this now. The new administration in Washington, the relatively clear signal that Israel has sent regarding its rejection of an international conference and simple separation of the West Bank and Gaza from its domain, and the new spirit of compromise, however murky it may be, to be found among the Palestinians offer previously unparalleled opportunities for moving ahead. Let us hope that there will be sufficiently imaginative statesmanship among all the parties to do so.

What are the guarantees that should be provided once the territorial problem solved ?

  • Israel must have a sufficient military presence throughout the territories, at least for an interim period, to guarantee its security.
  • Palestinian Arabs must have sufficient self-rule and full recognition of their identity.
  • Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews in the territories must be free to choose their citizenship among the options offered and live within a communal framework that gives that citizenship meaningful expression.
  • Substantial economic integration of Israel, the territories and Jordan is necessary.
  • There must be free movement of Israelis, Palestinian Arabs and Jordanian in and out of the territories.

Why is a confederation solution necessary?

      Continued links with Israel are inevitable. The Palestinians have also hinted that they understand the need for a continued connection with Israel as well, even if they get their state, at the minimum out of economic necessity. Most Israelis understand this as well. Certainly it is accepted doctrine among Israeli policy-makers, even those who are prepared to make the maximum territorial and political concessions to the Palestinians. The idea of closing off any territory of the historic Land of Israel to Israeli Jews or of dismantling the Jewish settlements established in the past twenty years is rejected by the vast majority of Israelis and both major parties. Since it would be impossible to maintain settlements and access and, even more important, serve Israel's defensive needs under a situation where there was a complete separation between the Jewish and Arab states, such links are as inevitable as they are desirable.

       What this means is that a federal solution is necessary not only for the Palestinians and Jordan but with Israel as well.

      Any territorial compromise will leave in both movements feelings of hostility and anger at what was lost to, or taken by force by, the other party. And so new type of solution for the dispute is needed: not a territorial compromise but unification of the whole country with a willingness to compromise over sovereignty.

What is the concept of confederation?

      Federalism and confederalism are two concepts containing a wide range of forms and definitions. The English definition of "confederation" is an association or covenant between sovereign states. The extent of the association and connection varies from one confederation to another. The definition of the term "federation" is an association or covenant of political units within one sovereign state. The USA is a federation of states, while Benelux countries (Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg) are a confederation of three states. In a federation, the state decides on the independent areas that it transfers to the political units within its borders. In a confederation, the sovereign states agree on the transfer of their powers and spheres to the confederative partnership.

      In our proposal, the concept of confederation means an alliance, a free association by consent of three sovereign states that continue to maintain most of the functions and symbols of independent statehood.

       The three states will decide in the founding covenant of the confederation what areas of activity will be common, the confederal powers, the transfer of goods and people between them, reciprocal customs and protections. The examples of confederative arrangements before us are the Benelux countries treaty that mainly concerns open borders and common market between Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. In this context, there is a joint use of currency, mining and export of minerals, particularly iron, joint institutions and projects undertaken by the confederation. The success of the Benelux example led to establishment of the European Economic Community.

Which territory for which state?

      In the historic land of Israel, on both banks of the Jordan, there is room for three states, loosely linked in a confederative bond. This alliance will be between three countries of unequal territory. Two-thirds of the area of 115,000 sq. kms. Will be the Kingdom of Jordan; most of it is desert. Some 20,000 sq.m. of the territory will be under the sovereignty of the State of Israel, more or less according to the lines of June 4, 1967.

      Only 5 per cent of the territory, some 6,000 sq. kms. Will be under the sovereignty of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

      When the peace treaty is signed, the states will decide on the name of the confederation. The provisional name is here proposed of "the Semitic Alliance".

What would be the different stages of the settlement in order that the parties adapt and create mutual trust in each other?

      The first and most important stage is that elections will be held in the Territories after the IDF leaves the population centers. During the transition period, the Territories will be administered by a body joint to Israel, the UN and the Palestinians. At the end of this stage, the Palestinian state will be established in the areas of the West Bank and Gaza in accordance with what is agreed in the Peace Convention.

      The second stage concerns the readiness of the three countries for cooperation between them in the confederation context. In the period of this stage, which will also last five to seven years, joint systems will be prepared. As agreed in the Convention, the IDF will retain forces at a number of bases on the mountain tops in the Jordan Valley pending the end of the second stage. These bases will be leased by the Palestinian state to the Government of Israel for the duration of the five years of the second stage. For the whole of the second stage, the Palestinian state will remain demilitarized and its primary resources during this period will be addressed to building the state and rehabiliting the refugees.

      The third stage touches the confederative framework. At the end of the first two stages, that is after 10-14 years, the confederation will be established, in the context of which each of the three states will have its own army, limited by consent, and will have a common defense pact. The third stage is, in effect, that of opening borders and bringing down customs barriers, with a free transfer of vehicles, merchandise and people between the states and joint activity on various projects. At the end of the 5-7 years, the three states will examine the new conditions and the success of the arrangements.

      The three stages and full specification of them will be included in the peace treaty and partnership convention that the parties will sign.

      This will guarantee both parties a satisfactory final settlement and gradualism of performance without upsets, as mutual trust is built up between the parties.

What type of economic system will be set up?

      The economic system will be formulated on the same lines as the European Economic Community. There will be no protective customs and the currency will be uniform.

      Joint authorities will be established for the purpose of common exports (for example, fruit and vegetables), a tourism authority will be set up to manage joint sites at Akaba, Eilat, Petra and so on. A joint airfields authority will be set up to manage the three national airfields, Amman, Ben Gurion and Kalandiya and the other secondary airfields.

      A ports authority will be set up to operate the ports of the three countries.

      A development authority will be established for joint projects and joint companies will be formed: Electricity Company, Aviation Company and so on.

The Political system?

      It will consist of a committee of the foreign ministers of the three countries; the confederation will maintain neutrality between the super-power blocs.

      It will seek to expand the agreements and alliances with the other countries of the Middle East and those of the Mediterranean Basin.

      The confederation will be able to be admitted as a member of the Arwab league and will maintain neutrality on positions adopted by countries of the Middle East, aspiring to create stability in the region with countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The Defense system?

      It will, first and foremost, ensure the capacity of the confederation to defend itself internally and externally.

      For a long period, an internal balance of forces will be required in the confederation, ensuring the security of Israel. This will be achieved through the peace agreement that will define the fixed ratio between the armies of Jordan and of Israel, demilitarized zones, development of non-conventional weapons and so on. No foreign army shall enter the area of confederation. The Palestinian state shall be demilitarized for a period of 5-7 years. At the end of the period of full demilitarization, the size of the Palestinian army will be fixed, based on a permanent ratio between it and the armies of Jordan and Israel, and it will consist primarily of an infantry force. Guarantees for the security of the Palestinian state will be included in the agreements.

The Administrative system?

      The administrative system of the confederation will include the joint council that will have an equal number of representatives from each state. The council will debate and decide on all joint affairs, as agreed by the three states in the peace treaty and founding convention. Resolutions will not be passed by a majority-minority vote but only by acclaim. Each of the states shall retain the right of veto on every issue.

Coordination bureaux of the confederation shall be as under;

  1. Economics
  2. Internal affairs
  3. Development
  4. Internal security

      There will also be coordinating committees for the following subjects: Taxes and customs; control over the banks, citizenship and migration, holy places, transport, communications, energy and sources, tourism, health, quality of the environment, trade and industry, and refugee rehabilitation.

      The confederation shall adopt joint emblems and, inter alia, will select a day to be celebrated as confederation day.

What will be the legal system in the confederation?

      It will be necessary, as part of the founding convention and peace accords, to determine two types of accord between the countries:

  1. The constitutional accord that gives powers and legitimization.
  2. The accord for operative functioning and the way in which decisions will be taken and disputes settled.

      The constitutional accord will comprise a written constitution on the basis of the founding convention and will define the spheres of joint rule, or separate activity, the way each state will protect its rights and its citizens, avoidance of majorization in the confederation. Issues of taxes, customs, currency, current internal security, principles for external security, foreign relations, etc.

      The origin of power cannot be anchored in one of the states and will thus be anchored in the founding convention and peace accords.

      The operative functioning will begin in a trial period of 5-7 years (in stage C, after establishment of the Palestinian state) and will then become a matter of routine.

      The legal system will not be unified in the confederation and it is preferable for each state to retain its own separate legal system.

What will be the personal status in the confederation?

There will be three types of personal status in the confederation:

  1. Citizen of the State - duties and rights shall be determined separately by each state.
  2. Permanent residents - a citizen may also be a permanent resident of a neighboring state. All the laws and procedures of the state shall apply to a permanent resident thereof. Thus, the 60,000 settlers in Judea,Samaria and Gaza will be able to remain citizens of Israel and permanent residents in the Palestinian state. At the same time, the State of Israel will grant similar status of permanent resident (and citizen of the Palestinian state) to a similar number of Arabs who will be able to live in Israel.
  3. Residents of the Homeland - every citizen or permanent resident in any one of the three countries of the confederation will be entitled to the status of "resident of the homeland". This status will accord to every resident, Jew, Moslem or Christian, in the historical Palestine within its Mandatories boundaries of 115,000 sq. kms. A historical right for him, his family and children in any part of the country. This right will give him a special status in everything to do with arrangements for staying, transit, buying and selling of real estate, etc.
  4. Symbolism of Resident of the Homeland status - Beyond the special rights that a resident of the homeland shall have in any part of Palestine, there is a symbolism in the status that accords a sense of belonging to an Israeli visiting Hebron, Nablus and Bethlehem and to a Palestinian visiting Jaffa, Ramleh and Lod. Public and private real estate in the State of Israel shall be appropriately marked, e.g. : "This house was built by the Rashidi Family which lived in it during the years 1921-1948". These signs, in Hebrew and Arabic, wil be unilateral gesture on the part of the State of Israel vis-s-vis the Palestinian residents who lived in it prior to 1948 and left as a result of the war.

What will be the status of Jerusalem?

      From the point of view of international law, Jerusalem still has a special status as decided by the UN in 1947. The facts determined since then, the Jordanian conquest as the Israeli conquest, have not been recognized by the countries of the world. The Security Council in Resolution 476 of 1980 determined that "The steps taken to change the special status of the city are invalid". No country in the world has yet recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

      Israeli readiness to put forward a new proposal including a waiver of sovereignty in part of the city will, from the international point of view, permit final status and arrangements for the city.

      (…) The city remains more divided than other problematic bi-national cities, such as Montreal, Brussels, Nicosia, Belfast and Beirut. The state of separation in Jerusalem in the spheres of commerce, employment, wages, administration, religious adjudication, transportation and accomodation is without precedent for problematic bi-national cities. (…) From the economic point of view, this will result in prosperity and development that are necessary for Jerusalem which has become a city of public services, academic life and tourism. Proclaiming it a free trade area will result in development of science-intensive industries on economic terms that will attract entrepreneurs. Financial institutions will develop as at other similar places in the world. Doubling of the municipal area will add land reserves, thus significantly cheapening construction costs. It will also halt the trend of Jews leaving the city because of the lack of jobs and the cost of housing.

      The municipal boundaries will be expanded so that the city becomes a functioning unit. From an urban point of view, Jerusalem already constitutes in the proposed area one functioning area which covers 500 sq. kms. And will include Maaleh Adumim to the east, Bethlehem to the south,Ramallah to the north and Mevasseret to the wets.

      The area will be divided in terms of sovereignty on two axes, an Israeli axis from east to west, including maaleh Adumim, the Jewish part of Jerusalem and Mevasseret.

      The Palestinian axis of sovereignty will run north-south and include Ramallah, the Arab part of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

      The holy sites in the Old city will be administered by a confederal authority and sovereignty over them will be joint Israeli-Palestinian. There will be a Jewish municipality for the Jewish area and an Arab municipality for the Arab area.

      A joint roof municipality for the Jerusalem Metropolis will be set up with Jewish and Arab representatives in equal numbers. The chairman will rotate from Jew to Arab and back.

      Jerusalem, as a free metropolitan area, will, as its name denotes, be a city of peace.

      For Jews it was and remains the most sacred spot on earth, with its homes, views and sites compounding all the memories of the national and religious experience of the Jewish people. For Moslems, Jerusalem is third in sanctify after Mecca and Medina. For Arabs it has been an Arab city for hundreds of years. For Christians, it is holy and the special status of their holy sites is a matter of importance for them. Jerusalem has always been a city of war; its history is replete with battles and wars more than any other city in the world. The proposed solution is for an open city, a united metropolis, dual sovereignty, two capitals, can make the city, for the first time in its history, into a "City of Peace", this being one of the ancient names of Jerusalem.

What will become of the Palestinian refugees?

      The 1948 war resulted in half of the Palestinian people becoming refugees. Without entering into the issue of the responsibility for this and the grave situation in which the refugees still are, responsibility for the rehabilitation rests, first and foremost, on the Palestinian state and, to some extent, also on the confederation and on international agencies.

      Israel, Jordan and Palestine must find three rehabilitation areas where new towns can be built. The proposed areas will all be within the area of the Palestinian state: on the Israel-Palestine border in the Gaza area; on the Israel-Palestine border in the area of the "Triangle"; and on the Palestinian -Jordan border in the Jericho area.

      In each of these areas, which will be proclaimed rehabilitation areas, science-intensive industrial plants, public institutions and good quality residential housing shall be set up. The refugee towns will be able to absorb some 600, 000 refugees who opt to return to them.

      The whole project will be funded by an international foundation with the participation of Israel (10% of project cost), Jordan (10%), the Palestinian state (10%), while the Arab countries will participate in 30% and the UN will bear the burden of the remaining 40% of the expenditure.

      In addition to free homes, job opportunities, learning a vocation, studies, etc. that will be offered to the refugees who wish to return, each refugee will receive compensation of symbolic amount for his property in Israel. The amount of the financial compensation will be agreed in the peace treaty.

      According to various assessments, the rehabilitation project could be carried out within 5 years and its cost will be some 20 billion dollars.

Why both Israel and the Palestinians are not enthusiastic with the idea of a confederation?

      As far as the idea of Confederation is concerned the problem is that Israelis, who are afraid of an independent Palestinian State , are not very enthusiastic about a confederation because they do not know what it is all about; on the other hand, what is on the Palestinians' mind is independence and they see in the confederation a way to deprive them of independence.

Would this lead to further achievements?

      Andre Chouraqui proposes a vision inspired by the European experience - a vision of an Israel-Palestine Confederation, with neighbouring countries, becoming part of a wider Mediterranean organism linked to the European Community.

      "The Europe of tomorrow, with an eye to the future, must aim at linking together the countries north and south of the Mediterranean countries, with the exception of Libya and Albania, are linked together by economic agreements in the framework of the European Community. It would be vital to strengthen these economic agreements by a political integration of the Mediterranean countries which do not yet participate in the European Parliament. A first step could be taken immediately by creating an assembly with equal representation of European and non-European Mediterranean countries, linked with the European Parliament on the pattern of the Lome Agreements whereby 66 African countries are associated with Europe.

Is that utopia?

      It would not be if the will were there to bring about its achievement - a historic step which would bring together all the children of Abraham, Jews, Christians and Muslims, united in action for the salvation of the world instead of for its annihilation.