Israel Matzav

Two states for two peoples... on two sides of the Jordan

At a conference on Sunday about a two-state solution on the two banks of the Jordan River (Jews to the West, Arabs to the East), the results of a poll were released that indicated that 19% of Israeli Jews support the idea of Jordan being the 'Palestinian state.' But most Israeli Jews don't expect it to happen, and they support... the status quo.

Some 19 percent of Jewish Israelis prefer to see a Palestinian state in Jordan rather than in the West Bank, but only 7% really think it could happen, according to a Maagar Mochot poll commissioned by Professors for a Stronger Israel.

“There are alternatives; we are not sitting with a gun to our heads,” said former National Union MK Arye Eldad, as he addressed a daylong conference on Sunday that debated all aspects of the question of two states for two peoples on two banks of the Jordan River.

There are more options than the standard equation of “Either we will have a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, or we will have a bi-national state,” Eldad said.

...

[E]ventually King Abdullah’s Hashemite Kingdom will fall prey to the Arab Spring, which has caused the ouster of other regional leaders.

“We need to have a plan in the drawer for that moment,” he said.

...

Mudar Zahran, a Jordanian- Palestinian political activist who lives in London, said he believed that King Abdullah II’s reign would soon end.

Based on the Maagar Mochot poll, however, only a minority of those questioned supported a two-state solution in which Palestine was on the east side of the Jordan River.

Out of those polled, 41% of Jewish Israelis preferred the status quo and 51% said they believed that the situation would stay the same. Only 11% said they preferred a two-state solution in the West Bank based on land swaps, and only 21% said they believed this would happen. Some 29% said they did not have a solution.

...

According to the poll, 53% of Likud Beytenu supporters said they preferred the status quo, 1% wanted a two-state solution in the West Bank and 30% supported Jordan as a Palestinian state.
Among Shas and UTJ party supporters, 67% preferred the status quo, 3% wanted a two-state solution in the West Bank and 21% wanted Jordan to be a Palestinian state.

Among the Yesh Atid, Hatnua and Kadima parties, 33% preferred the status quo, 14% wanted a two-state solution in the West Bank and 8% believed that Palestine should be in Jordan.

Out of those polled from the Labor and Meretz parties, only 7% preferred the status quo, 52% supported a two-state solution in the West Bank and none of them wanted to see Jordan become a Palestinian state.

 Now, if only someone could find our Prime Minister's backbone.... .

Labels: Arieh Eldad, Jordan is Palestine, Jordanian King Abdullah, Judea and Samaria, Mudar Zahran, Palestinian state, two-state solution

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:34 PM