Is Bennett set to shake-up global consensus on a two-state solution?
Israel's new Prime Minister  Naftali Bennett  seems set to challenge the decades-long failure by the international community to achieve its called-for two-state solution, involving creating a second Palestinian Arab state, in addition to Jordan, for the first time in recorded history. Bennett made his intention very clear when introducing Israels next Government  not necessarily with his new coalition partners unanimous approval:  We will ensure Israels national interests in Area C  and we will increase standards to that end after much neglect in this area. (Note: The Oslo Accord divided the disputed region of Judea and Samaria, aka 'West Bank', into Areas A, B, and C. Areas A and B were granted autonomy and are governed by the Palestinian Authority, except for security issues in Area B, while Area C has all the Jewish residents and about 4% of the Palestinian Arabs living in the region.) Bennett  anointed as Prime Minister and Minister for Settlement Affairs  is now uniquely placed to promote his Israel Stability Initiative  February 2012 (Stability Plan)  summarised by him in 2017:  The main idea of The Stability Plan is to provide full civilian self-governance to the Palestinians so they can elect themselves, pay their taxes, and control those areas that are theirs. We should apply sovereignty in Israeli-controlled areas  known as Area C  and Palestinians living there will become part and parcel of the State of Israel. And since within the State of Israel you cannot have two levels of people, those Palestinians living in Area C  approximately 80,000 people  will be offered full Israeli citizenship, including voting rights. I think most will opt for residency rather than citizenship (like in East Jerusalem) but its up to them. They can be Israeli citizens, Israeli residents or Palestinian citizens. "Those living in the Palestinian-controlled areas (Areas A and B) will govern themselves in all aspects barring two elements: overall security responsibility and not being able to allow the return of decedents [sic] of Palestinians refugees. We cant have an inflow of millions of great grandchildren of 1948 refugees coming across the Jordan River because in one swoop that would distort the demography of the area, and within a few weeks of their arrival, the local Palestinians in Judea and Samaria would tell them to go back to Jaffa which would subsequently create pressure on Israel that could lead to a third intifada inside Smaller Israel. "My option is that Palestinians have an autonomy on steroids, and Im open to ideas about how this materialises; it could be a confederation with Jordan, or local municipalities, or a central government. It would encompass full freedom of movement, massive infrastructure investment, the creation of a tourism zone so Christians can enter Haifa, Nazareth, Nablus, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Hebron without going through road blocks. We would have joint industrial centres, and wed be able to create a land port governed by the Palestinians in Jenin that would be connected to Haifa.  Bennett continued:  I understand there is global consensus around the two-state solution, but what the world thinks is no proof for the correctness of a plan. The world gets it wrong a lot. In the high tech world where I come from, if my employees tried the same solution and failed again and again Id fire them as Id expect them to have tried to tackle the challenge from a different angle by now! There is an industry around this topic  think-tanks, journals, professionals and academics who keep on chewing on the same old failed solution. Global consensus needs to positively respond to Bennetts challenge. Authors note: The cartoon  commissioned exclusively for this article  is by Yaakov Kirschen aka Dry Bones- one of Israels foremost political and social commentators  whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.