Time Trump focused on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution

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A free-flowing and spirited Presidential Debate descended into virtual silence when President Trump surprisingly blew the opportunity to clearly differentiate his policy from President Biden’s long-standing policy supporting the creation of an independent Palestinian state [also known as the “two state solution” – ed] .

CNN Co-Moderator Dana Bash had asked Trump:

“President Trump, just to follow up, would you support the creation of an independent Palestinian state in order to achieve peace in the region?”

Trump responded:

“I’d have to see”

Trump had expressed support for the creation of an independent Palestinian state in his January 2020 Peace to Prosperity proposal – but questioned maintaining that stance in an interview with Eric Cortellessa on 12 April this year – when they had the following exchange:

“Do you think an outcome of [the] war between Israel and Hamas should be a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians?

Trump: Most people thought it was going to be a two-state solution. I’m not sure a two-state solution anymore is gonna work. Everybody was talking about two states, even when I was there. I was saying, “What do you like here? Do you like two states?” Now people are going back to—it depends where you are. Every day it changes now. If Israel’s making progress, they don’t want two states. They want everything. And if Israel’s not making progress, sometimes they talk about two-state solution. Two-state solution seemed to be the idea that people liked most, the policy or the idea that people liked above.

Do you like it? 

Trump: It depends when. There was a time when I thought two states could work. Now I think two states is going to be very, very tough. I think it’s going to be much tougher to get. I also think you have fewer people that liked the idea. You had a lot of people that liked the idea four years ago. Today, you have far fewer people that like that idea.

You said–

Trump; There may not be another idea.  You know, there are people that say that that situation is one of the toughest, the toughest to settle

However there was another idea which Trump seems to have been unaware of: The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution authored by Ali Shihabi – an advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – and published in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 – calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one newly-merged territorial entity with its capital in Amman and being governed by Jordan’s current Hashemite rulers.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution trashes the creation of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan proposed by:

• Biden since May 2011 and
• Saudi foreign policy and the Arab Peace Initiative since 2002 – but expressly not accepted by either Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman or the Arab League

Biden continues to push the failed independent Palestinian state solution – introducing and successfully causing the Security Council to adopt Resolution 2735 on 10 June – reiterating:

“ 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”

Should Trump follow Biden continuing to pursue a two-state solution that has gone nowhere or should Trump phone Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to ask whether the Crown Prince endorses Shihabi’s Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution?

Biden’s current indecision would disappear.

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.