A United States negotiating team has proposed to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a confederation of Palestinians with Jordan. This is reported by Israeli media, including daily newspaper Haaretz. The US negotiators Jared Kusher and Jason Greenblatt would have submitted this proposal to Abbas as part of a peace plan. However, reports remain open when this conversation was conducted. The last official meeting of Kusher and Abbas took place in August 2017.
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Abbas said at a meeting with peace activists and leftist deputies from Israel in Ramallah that he was in principle willing to agree to such a plan, writes Haaretz, citing Israeli interlocutors. As a condition, however, he stated that Israel must also be part of such a confederation of States; Without Israeli involvement, he would reject idea of a confederation. A confederation is an amalgamation of two or more sovereign states, which, although common to outside world, retain a certain degree of autonomy.
US peace plan to be “almost done”
Jared Kusher, close adviser and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, is to propose a comprehensive peace settlement for Israel and Palestinians. So far, little has been known about his ideas. At end of June, Kusher said Trump government’s plan was “almost done” and would bring “prosperity” to region without mentioning details.
According to Haaretz, Abbas said at meeting: “I was asked if I believe in a confederation with Jordan.” He replied, “Yes, I want a confederation with Jordan and Israel. I asked Israelis if y would agree to such a proposal. ” However, it was unclear how such a confederation of States would work according to ideas of US team.
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A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not want to comment on reports. Israel is always concerned that Jews are majority of its citizens, which is no longer case in a confederation with Kingdom of Jordan, which has 9.5 million Arab citizens. Therefore, a consent Netanyahu’s is unlikely. Jordan’s position to a confederation with Israel is also uncertain.
Confederation is not a new concept
The idea of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation has been debated over past few decades. Abbas stressed in past that he would consider such a covenant only after establishment of an independent Palestinian state. It remains unclear in US initiative what degree of autonomy Palestinians would have in a confederation.
The Palestinians had broken off relations with US after President Trump had acknowledged Jerusalem as capital of Israel last December. Abbas has officially refused to meet US negotiators ever since, instead, Jared Kusher posed at inauguration of Jerusalem US embassy for friendly photos with Netanyahu.
The Palestinians no longer regard United States as an impartial mediator. They also demand a two-state solution with Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state – but prospects for such a solution are nil as long as US president Donald Trump is called.
In a furr drastic step, US had completely discontinued its payments for United Nations Palestinian Aid Organization (UNRWA) on Friday. With elimination of US funds, Palestinian Union now accounts for almost 300 million euros per year, one third of total budget of 947 million euros. The organization supplies more than five million people in Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
