Trump & Putin: Locate State of Palestine east of Jordan River

President Trump’s decision to involve the United Nations Security Council in implementing Trump’s 20 point peace plan has struck a brick wall with Russia filing its own draft resolution to that proposed by Trump.

Russia has explained its reasons:

“The rationale behind Russia's draft resolution on Gaza is to enable the Security Council to define clear modalities for deploying a peacekeeping contingent and establishing administration in Gaza, while ensuring that these modalities are fully in line with universally recognized international legal standards and genuinely facilitate cessation of violence and durable stabilization. That is why the document calls on the Secretary-General to prepare a report for the Security Council setting out options for implementing the relevant provisions of President Trump's Plan. It is also crucial to preserve the international legal framework for the Middle East peace process, which has been developed over many decades on the basis of the two-State solution.”

United Nations attempts over many decades to create a State of Palestine between Israel and Jordan west of the Jordan River (two-State solution) - has failed for the following reasons:

·       This new State of Palestine was to be located in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza - 5% of the territory of former Palestine - specifically designated for the reconstitution of the Jewish National Home by the League of Nations in the 1922 Mandate for Palestine (Mandate).

·       Article 80 of the United Nations Charter was inserted to preserve the rights vested in the Jewish people by the Mandate - after the Jewish Agency for Palestine submitted a Memorandum to the United Nations Conference on International Organization held in San Francisco in April 1945 requesting:

 “In view of the unique character of the Palestine Mandate and the special rights of the Jewish people thereunder, no action should be taken at the San Francisco Conference which would be inconsistent with or prejudicial to the special rights of the Jewish people under the Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate, and all such rights shall be expressly reserved and safeguarded”

·       Jewish Agency Representative David Ben Gurion told the United Nations Special Commission on Palestine on 7 July 1947:

Article 80 was adopted for this very special reason of Palestine. Article 80 speaks also about trusteeship agreements: "… until such agreements have been concluded . . . " and they are not yet concluded, and we do not offer to conclude a trusteeship agreement "nothing in this Chapter shall be construed in or of itself to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which Members of the United Nations may respectively be parties."  This is the special Article of the Charter which applies to Palestine. It was introduced only because of Palestine”.

The United Nations has attempted to erase the Mandate and article 80 by renaming Judea and Samaria, and Gaza: “Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

Israel’s Parliament – the Knesset - rejected any State of Palestine being located west of the Jordan River on 18 July 2024 by 68 votes to 9 claiming it:

“would pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region.”

A State of Palestine located west of the Jordan River is dead – especially after:

·       Israel’s 2005 unilateral disengagement from Gaza wrought horrendous results, and

·       The horrific attack on Israel’s citizens occurred on 7 October 2023.

Trump and Putin should now consider establishing a pathway to creating a State of Palestine located east of the Jordan River – in addition to Jordan - in 78% of former Palestine designated by the Mandate for Arab self-determination.

The author has a Facebook page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”