Has Harris heard Netanyahu and Israel?
Kamala Harris – in her acceptance speech on 22 August as Democratic Party nominee for President– signalled she had now abandoned pursuing the creation of a Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan proposed by President Biden on 10 June.
Biden’s proposal was contained in draft Security Council Resolution S/2024/448 prepared by the United States of America: Unifying Gaza and the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority (Biden’s Solution) – adopted 14-0 by the Security Council in Resolution 2735.
Harris made no mention of Biden’s Solution in her acceptance speech – only this declaration:
“President Biden and I are working to end this war such that – Israel is secure – the hostages are released – the suffering in Gaza ends – and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity. Security. Freedom. And self-determination“
Missing was Biden’s identification of the defined area in which such self-determination should be exercised and under whose authority it should function.
Biden’s Solution was on the slippery slide to self-destruction well before Harris ditched it – after Israel’s Knesset and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made it clear on 17 July and 4 August respectively that Israel would not agree to any new state between Israel and Jordan (two-state solution).
Biden’s Solution bordered on the farcical when China announced on 23 July that Hamas and Fatah as well as 12 other Palestinian groups had laid the groundwork for an interim national reconciliation government – which was promptly rejected by America and Israel.
Harris’s non-reaffirmation of Biden’s Solution in her acceptance speech has opened up the prospect that Harris may be contemplating endorsing the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution (HKOPS) – first published on 8 June 2022: Unifying Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank under the Hashemites – the ruling authority in Jordan for more than 100 years comprising 77% of former Palestine – enjoying a signed peace treaty with Israel since 1994.
HKOPS has never been raised or discussed by Biden or the Security Council as a possible solution – as both continue to unsuccessfully pursue a two-state solution sought in Security Council Resolution 2334 which was adopted on 23 December 2016 – after Obama and Biden failed to veto its passage as they were vacating the White House to make way for a victorious Donald Trump.
Features of HKOPS attractive to Harris could include:
- HKOPS calls for America’s help:
“Jordanians and Palestinians are as similar as any people can be. They are Sunni Arabs from the same neighborhood. Merging them will not create any long-term ethnic or sectarian fault lines. While there will be strong (and shortsighted) resistance from some “East Jordanian” elites who will see this as a threat to their dominance, the US, Israel, and the GCC have considerable influence over these elites as their de facto protectors; hence the role of these governments will be absolutely critical in pressuring the Jordanians to acquiesce.”
- HKOPS author – Ali Shihabi – is one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s advisors (MBS) on building Neom – a mega city the size of Israel growing out of the desert in northern Saudi Arabia.
- HKOPS shreds Saudi Foreign Policy and the Arab Peace Initiative that have for the last 20 years been calling for a two-state solution. It is hard to believe that Bin Salman is unaware of HKOPS though he too has made no public mention of it since its publication.
- Implementing HKOPS will help facilitate a U.S.-Saudi defense-treaty and normalize diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israe
Harris needs to formulate a policy on ending the Arab-Jewish conflict that will attract electoral support on 5 November.
Having abandoned Biden’s Solution – Harris should seriously consider endorsing HKOPS.
Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”
Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.
David Singer is a Sydney lawyer and a foundation member of the International Analysts Network
