Sar Shalom
In defending the application of pressure on Israel to accept that Jewish rights end at Jordan's 1949-line of conquest, President Obama observes that no one has explained to him how Israel could hold onto the entirety of Judea and Samaria, grant civil rights to all its inhabitants, and remain a Jewish-majority state. However, there is a plan that has been suggested that would recognize that Jordan's 1949-conquest is not grounds to abrogate Jewish rights, extends civil rights to those who dwell in Judea and Samaria, and does not threaten Israel's status as a Jewish state. That plan is Mordechai Kedar's Palestinian Emirates.
A summary of the features of the Palestinian Emirates plan: The major Arab population centers of Judea and Samaria (except for Bethlehem) would each become independent emirates as would Gaza. Israel would annex the remaining parts of Judea and Samaria with full civil rights extended to the Arabs living in those territories. The Arab population centers in Judea and Samaria are: the Arab section of Hebron, Ramallah, Jericho, Nablus, Tulkarem, Qalqiliya, and Jenin. Those population centers include roughly 90% of the Arab population of Judea and Samaria, thus extending civil rights to the remaining Arabs would not threaten Israel's Jewish character.
While I have other reasons to support Kedar's plan, one notable asset is that if the alternative to full evacuation of "the West Bank" is Palestinian Emirates, Obama would not be able to say that full evacuation is required in order for Israel to remain both a Jewish state and a democracy that extends civil rights to all under its jurisdiction. This doesn't mean that Obama would not be able to come up with other reasons to demand full evacuation, however, any reason to favor full evacuation over Palestinian Emirates would be a harder sell than the "preserve Israel as a Jewish democracy" argument has against the alternative of preserving the status quo. Given that, why does no one besides Kedar himself even mention Palestinian Emirates?
Debate Magazine
