Much now depends on whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps his promise and leads the war until the destruction of Hamas. That’s why Netanyahu is reminded again and again, like yesterday, when members of the ruling Likud party made it clear to him that if he halts the war, the ruling coalition will collapse immediately. A few days earlier, on Friday morning, just hours before the first Israeli hostages were released from the Gaza Strip, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said something that is today deemed novel. He presented basic principles for the establishment of a future Palestinian state, noting Israel’s long-held conditions for such a solution.
In his speech, the Egyptian president explained how he envisions an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and under what conditions a Palestinian state could emerge in the future. “The only solution to this conflict is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, as was the case in 1967,” Al-Sisi clarified, emphasizing: “We are ready to demilitarize the state. NATO troops, UN troops, troops from Arab countries and American troops can ensure this. Anything they want.”
In other words: From al-Sisi’s point of view, anything that can contribute to the establishment of a Palestinian state is welcome. Something that the PLO and the Palestinians consistently rejected during the Oslo negotiations on a future Palestinian state. PLO leader Yasser Arafat and his successors were and are against the presence of foreign security forces to ensure the security of Israel and its new neighbor.
This statement came after the Egyptian president took a clear and strict line on Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip entering Egypt. Al-Sisi repeatedly emphasized on camera that Palestinian refugees were not welcome in Sinai. “The expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt would be followed by the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan,” he warned. East of the Jordan, Hashemite King Abdullah II also warned of a possible flight of Palestinians to his country. As a reminder: 75 percent of Jordan’s population of eleven million people are already Palestinians.
Jordan is Palestine!
Arab states condemn Wilders for push to relocate Palestinians to Jordan https://t.co/U6JjdOk0IK
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) November 25, 2023
In recent days, all Palestinian leaders have been upset by the words of Dutch election winner Geert Wilders, who tweeted that “Jordan is Palestine.” Why? Even the Jordanian kings, the grandfather and father of the current King Abdullah II, have admitted this publicly: “Jordan is Palestine. Palestine is Jordan.” This is the royal decree and the opinion of the previous kings in Jordan. “Palestine and Jordan are one…” said Jordanian King Abdullah I in 1948. “The truth is that Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan,” said his son, King Hussein of Jordan, 33 years later in 1981.
Both the Jordanian king and the Egyptian pharaoh have made it clear to Israel and the world that they do not want Palestinians. Both have good reasons for this. Today, the Palestinians and other Arab refugees are more popular in European countries than in their own Arab neighborhood.
“We reject the expulsion of Palestinians from their land,” stressed al-Sisi in the same speech. “What is happening now in Gaza is an attempt to drive Palestinians south into Egypt.” It is entirely possible that if the war in southern Gaza continues after the ceasefire, a crowd will cross the Egyptian border at Rafah, which could trigger a major exodus of tens of thousands, if not more. The Egyptian president also said: “If the idea of displacement exists, why should the Palestinians not be resettled in the Negev? We do not want Sinai to become a base for terrorist attacks against Israel.”
Without saying as much, al-Sisi effectively acknowledges that the Palestinians are violent and terrorists. Finally, al-Sisi warned that Israeli military operations in Gaza could lead to uncontrollable consequences that would only make the Middle East conflict more dangerous. That’s true, but Israel has no choice but to destroy the barbaric Hamas terrorists once and for all. And of course that is a risk in itself, but the risk to Israel’s existence and security with Hamas in Gaza is even greater.
I doubt that a demilitarized Palestinian state will come about, because for that Israel must first accept the idea of an independent Palestinian state. Only then can we discuss what this should look like and whether demilitarization is possible.
These days Israel is busy with a difficult war, and negotiating the release of hostages, which makes the whole situation even more challenging. But it is interesting that al-Sisi mentioned this point and agreed to Israel’s old terms. Still, whether that makes strategic and political sense today is another question. But it signals that al-Sisi also wants to finally get rid of the problem of Palestinian violence and is prepared to make compromises that the Arab governments have so far rejected.
How come Netanyahu has time to meet Musk and all those people that come and meddle in Israel’s affairs? Why is musk important? I don’t trust those Americans one bit.
We’ve seen how effective an international force is against Hezbollah in Lebanon, they make no difference. Also, Hamas runs the UNRWA operation in Gaza. Al-Sisi needs to admit that the world has a problem with Palestinians and Israel. Arafat was an Egyptian. How refreshing that Mr Wilders reminds us that ‘Palestine and Jordan are one.’ This was Jordan’s motivation for invading Israel in 1948, they didn’t want the Jews to have any land. Again in 1981, less than 10 years after Black September, when the PLO tried to take Jordan, the Jordanian king says, “The truth is that Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.” Jordan and Israel are two States. Jordan is a neighbouring State to Israel, the Palestinians will become neighbours of Israel when they again belong to that State or to Egypt.