Time for Trump to broker Israel-Jordan deal on West Bank future
President Trump’s announcement of the brokering of a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan is yet another testament to Trump’s negotiating skills - instilling confidence that he will soon broker a deal to divide sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) between Israel and Jordan.
Trump said at a signing ceremony at the White House on 8 August - flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan:
"Armenia and Azerbaijan are committing to stop all fighting forever, open up commerce, travel and diplomatic relations and respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity"
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been confrontational opponents since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Trump has maintained a long and studied silence since he was asked at a joint press conference at the White House with Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu on 4 February:
Mr. President, do you support Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria areas, which many believe is the biblical homeland of the Jewish people?
Trump replied:
“Well, we're discussing that with many of your representatives. You're represented very well, and people do like the idea, but we haven't taken a position on it yet, but we will be -- we'll be making an announcement probably on that very specific topic over the next four weeks.”
That announcement has still not been made as the situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate and violence in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) threatens to escalate.
Member states of the United Nations continue to focus on the creation of a Palestinian State between Israel and Jordan – a solution that has gone nowhere in the last 68 years.
A Joint Statement on 8 August from the Foreign Ministers of Australia, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom on Gaza repeats the mantra calling for a two-state solution - underscoring what needs to be first achieved in Gaza:
We are united in our commitment to the implementation of a negotiated two-state solution as the only way to guarantee that both Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace, security, and dignity. A political resolution based on a negotiated two-state solution requires the total demilitarisation of Hamas and its complete exclusion from any form of governance in the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Authority must have a central role.
They are whistling in the wind.
Israel will not agree to the creation of a new state between Israel and Jordan.
An alternative solution – The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution published in the Saudi-government controlled Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 and subsequently amended on 19 June 2022 – calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one new territorial unit.
This template – minus Gaza – could be attractive to Trump since it designates Israel and Jordan to negotiate to divide sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) between their two respective states.
Israel and Jordan:
· Have enjoyed a signed peace treaty since 1994
· Currently exercise between them sovereignty over 95% of the territory of former Palestine - as the two successor states to the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine
· Are the second and fourth largest recipients respectively of US foreign aid
Trump is the one person who can broker this deal – to be achieved when Jordan and Israel redraw the existing international border between their two respective states.
Time Trump ended his five-month silence.
The author has a Facebook page: "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters"
David Singer is an Australian lawyer and political analyst.
