As the hot summer months continue, so does the continuous visits of special envoys and high ranking officials that the U.S. Government is sending our way in an attempt to accelerate the political process.

The Israel Initiative hopes that it won’t take much time for the American Government to realize that the process they are trying to lead is only bringing us to a dead end; as has been proven over the last fifteen years since the start of the Oslo process.

The Palestinians will not succeed in ‘delivering the goods’, and therefore a Palestinian state will not be established; even if a Palestinian state is established, it will not end the current conflict nor will it solve the Palestinian problem. We, who experience the conflict on a daily basis, are well aware of this.

Over and over there are reports reporting of Palestinian refugees in Iraq who are being resettled in different countries. After the report on refugees who are set to be absorbed in America ( mentioned at length in the past newsletter), it was reported that Slovakia is set to absorb around 100 refugees, as a temporary destination before being resettled in a different venue.

Last week staff from the Israel Initiative met with officials from “European Union Commission to the West Bank”, a delegation that does not have any contact with Israeli officials and whose knowledge of the conflict is limited to the Palestinian viewpoint. After showing them Palestinian surveys whose conclusions are that 40% of Gazans are interested in resettling, the Europeans told us that from there daily interaction with the population, they know that 90% are looking to resettle – if they were only given the chance. Stunned by their statement, staff from the Israel Initiative asked why there is nothing being done to accommodate these Palestinians. They simply replied by saying that there is no resettlement option until there is a political agreement: Israel must recognize that they stripped Palestinians of their homes and identity.

Their statement is exactly in line with what we have been saying for the past few years: taking advantage of a humanitarian problem in exchange for political gains. The fact of the matter is – as we said to the Europeans – the Palestinians from Iraq are very happy to be resettled in any country that will absorb them, without any recognition of lost homes or identity. If the Palestinians in Gaza, or any other refugee population, would be given the opportunity to resettle and rebuild their lives in another country, many would welcome this option. What prevents this scenario is UNRWA and those countries which support it.

Beyond this – as long as the Palestinians will not be permitted to return to their homes from 1948, Israel should not be afraid to concede that there were Palestinians who were uprooted from their homes in the independence war. In a press release that we sent out this week, in wake of discussions about remembering the ‘Nakba’, we explicitly expressed that Israel should admit that the independence war created thousands of Palestinian refugees, just like it created thousands of Jewish refugees.

Jordan adamantly stated this week that they have no intention of cooperating with Israel in connection with resettling the refugees and that any solution to the current conflict will not come at their expense. Furthermore, it was reported that Jordan has begun to monitor the number of Palestinian refugees living in their country, in attempt to make sure that the numbers do not increase and to rid themselves of those who live there unlawfully. According to the foreign press, Jordan is suspicious that Israel is planning to resettle thousands of Palestinian refugees from Judea and Samaria in their territory.

Panic from the Jordanian side is the strongest proof that the Jordanian option is still relevant today. Their swift response and daily reports of unwillingness to cooperate with Israel, is testimony that the current deadlock is leading many to the obvious conclusion: the Jordan option must be renewed. However, if in Israel and abroad, this idea would be promoted, Jordan would not be so unwilling to cooperate. In connection to secret Israeli plans, as reported by the Jordanians – is it possible that the Government is implementing our initiative without our knowledge?

To read about the Panic in Jordan: www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1101190.html

The Israel Initiative continues to meet with Israeli Government officials as well as international officials working here. The writer of this newsletter also published an article in the magazine ‘Nekudah’ explaining the plan of the Israel Initiative, as well as the logic that stands behind it.

Wishing you all a pleasant summer,
Yoav Sorek
Director, Israeli Initiative
www.Israelinitiative.com