Radical new plan
for Mideast peace
Israeli movement builds for Arab population transfer
November 15, 2002
There's a new peace plan gaining support in Israel that has nothing to do with making land concessions to Arabs, negotiations with Yasser Arafat, extending the Oslo Accords or creating a new Palestinian state.
Instead, the seven-point Elon Peace Plan represents a radical departure in Israeli thinking over the last 12 years.
Benny Elon
Named for Benny Elon, the relatively small Moledet Party's leader and a member of the Knesset, the new peace plan calls for transferring Arabs from the West Bank and other areas to what Elon calls the "existing state of Palestine" – the nation of Jordan.
Polls show between 20 and 30 percent of Israelis ready to back such a plan.
In an exclusive interview with WorldNetDaily Editor Joseph Farah, Elon said such a population transfer is not unusual in modern world history, nor is it immoral to contemplate.
"The solution is moral for both Jews, who have no other homeland, for the Palestinians, who have lost the most in the past wars – their homes were damaged and they became refugees," he said. "The world has now reached the understanding that there is no peace in bi-national countries, and that there is an urgent need for separation."
Elon points out that not one Arab leader has agreed to the most far-reaching Israeli offers for a peace agreement – even one carving up Jerusalem and placing part of it in the hands of the Palestinians.
"The state of Israel must demand the relocation of the refugees as a precondition of peace within any future negotiations," said Elon. "We cannot relinquish these lands, and we cannot live peacefully with the Arab population currently living in them. And we cannot succumb to the current, politically correct 'solution' – the creation of an Arab terrorist state, bent on our ultimate destruction and willing to sacrifice its children toward this end."
The seven-point Elon plan calls for:
Jerusalem's recognition that Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, established under the lengthy peace process begin in Oslo in 1993, is the enemy of Israel.
The forcible removal of all terrorists and all weapons from the West Bank – or Judea and Samaria, as these lands are called by many in Israel.
The nullification of the Palestinian Authority as a legitimate entity and the canceling of the Oslo Accords.
The establishment of a cease-fire and negotiations under international auspices to relocate refugees in Arab countries and the dismantling of refugee camps, along with the establishment of a Jordan-Palestinian state with Amman as its capital.
Arabs who remain in Judea and Samaria would be offered citizenship in the Jordanian-Palestinian state.
Arab citizens of Israel also would be offered such status.
If the Arabs of Judea and Samaria breach the terms of the agreement, they would be forcibly deported to the other side of the Jordan River.
Elon is the political successor of late tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi, who was assassinated last year by Palestinian gunmen. He had launched his political career by advocating the voluntary transfer of Arabs to neighboring states.
"The high expectations of Oslo became deep disappointment," explained Elon. "Instead of peace, there has been so much bloodshed. When you look at it, transfer is the only conclusion. It is the only light at the end of the tunnel."
The population of Jordan, Elon points out, is currently comprised of 70 percent Palestinians. That is why he calls it the existing Palestinian state.
"The king of Jordan is well aware of the fact that Arafat is only waiting for the right moment [to make his land claim there]," said Elon. "... After he receives a small state west of the Jordan River, he will do all he can to connect it, under his rulership, to the Palestinian state called Jordan."
Population transfers have occurred repeatedly in modern history – often with success since World War II, Elon and his supporters point out. It is often overlooked and forgotten, they say, that some 850,000 Jewish refugees fled Arab lands since the creation of the new state of Israel in 1948. These refugees, as well as millions from other parts of the world, have been successfully absorbed in the tiny Jewish state, no larger than the state of New Jersey.
In fact, they say, of the 100 million refugees created since World War II, the only group still not resettled is the Palestinian refugee group.
"Instead, these unfortunate people became pawns in the hands of their own Arab leadership," said Elon.
Elon and his party will make a big public relations push on their peace plan in the coming months – both in Israel and in the United States.
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