Israeli & Saudi solutions can resolve Judea & Samaria claims

A new solution to end Jewish and Arab claims to sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) has emerged this past week: Israel will annex 82% under a plan proposed by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich with the remaining 18% becoming exclaves of Jordan as predicated in the 2022 Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution authored by Ali Shihabi – an advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (Smotrich-Shihabi solution).

The Jordanian-ruled exclaves would comprise the major Arab towns located in Judea and Samaria (West Bank): Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Jericho and Hebron - with their citizens regaining Jordanian citizenship - first acquired in 1949 and lost in 1988.

An exclave is a part of a country that is geographically separated from the main territory, with no direct land connection. 

Current exclaves include:

• Cabinda Province (Angola): A part of Angola that is isolated from the rest of the country by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

• Point Roberts, Washington (USA): A U.S. exclave separated from the contiguous U.S. by Canadian territory. 

• Campione d'Italia (Italy): An Italian exclave completely surrounded by Switzerland. 

The Smotrich-Shihabi solution would consign the United Nations solution to create a new independent Palestinian Arab State between Israel and Jordan (two-state solution) to the diplomatic graveyard.

The UN solution had been surreptitiously inserted into Security Council Resolution 2735 - drafted by the Biden administration - and adopted on 10 June 2024 – in which the Security Council:

“Reiterates its unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority;

Israel’s Knesset firmly rejected this UN proposal by 68 votes to 9 on 18 July 2024:

“The Knesset of Israel firmly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of Jordan. The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel will pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region”

Israel’s Knesset subsequently passed the following resolution on 24 July 2025 by a majority of 71 votes to 13:

“Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley are an inseparable part of Eretz Israel—the historical, cultural and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people. Hundreds and thousands of years before the state's establishment, the forefathers and the prophets of the nation lived and acted in these regions, and the foundations of Jewish culture and faith were laid in them. Cities such as Hebron, Shechem, Shilo and Beit El are not just historical sites, they are a living expression of the continuity of Jewish existence in the land.

“Sovereignty in Eretz Israel is an inseparable part of the fulfillment of Zionism and the national vision of the Jewish people that has returned to its homeland. The massacre of Shemini Atzeret, October 7, 2023, proved that the establishment of a Palestinian state poses an existential danger to Israel, its citizens and the entire region.

“The Knesset, in its resolution on July 18, 2024, determined that it was opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River, and that the establishment of such a state would pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region. In making [this declaration], the Knesset removed the idea of the Palestinian state from the agenda.

“The Knesset determines that the State of Israel has a natural, historical and legal right to all territories of Eretz Israel, the Jewish people's historical homeland. The Knesset calls upon the Government of Israel to take action as soon as possible to apply sovereignty—Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration, to all expanses of Jewish settlement, including all its forms, in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.

“This action will strengthen the State of Israel and its security, and will prevent any challenge to the Jewish people's basic right to peace and security in its homeland. On behalf of the Hebrew nation sitting in Zion, we call upon our friends around the world to stand with the return to Zion and the vision of the prophets, and to support the State of Israel in its natural, historical and legal right to Eretz Israel and the application of sovereignty."

The United Arab Emirates is now threatening the continuation of the Abraham Accords if Israel annexes any part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) – Emirati special envoy Lana Nusseibeh telling The Times of Israel in an interview conducted in the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi:

“Annexation would be a red line for my government, and that means there can be no lasting peace. It would foreclose the idea of regional integration and be the death knell of the two-state solution,”

The death knell of the two-state solution has long tolled after:

·       Gaza’s invasion of Israel on 7 October 2023

·       The ongoing unresolved 700 days War that has ensued

·       Israel’s absolute rejection of any two-state solution on 18 July 2024.

Reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pulled back from discussing annexation of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) after Nusseibeh’s warning seem strange because:

·       No better alternative solutions exist

·       President Trump’s Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee stated on 5 September:

“The US has never asked Israel to not apply sovereignty. I have repeatedly said that the US respects Israel as a sovereign nation and will not tell Israel what to do. This is also what Secretary Rubio has said as recently as this week.” 

Resolving territorial claims to Judea and Samaria (West Bank) can only strengthen the Abraham Accords and help end the Arab-Jewish conflict.

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”