The three-state solution, also called the Egyptian–Jordanian solution or the Jordan–Egypt option, is an approach to peace in the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other eff ...

by returning control of the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

and control of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza. ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

History

The three-state solution essentially replicates the situation that existed between the

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

. Beginning in 1949, Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip, Jordan occupied the West Bank, and no Palestinian Arab state existed. In 1950, Jordan officially annexed the

and granted its Arab residents Jordanian citizenship.

Feasibility

While the

two-state solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiatio ...

is still the prevailing option, the three-state solution is being raised with increasing frequency as the viability of the two-state solution has been repeatedly called into question. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported in January 2009 that Egypt and Jordan are increasingly concerned about the possibility of having to retake responsibility for Gaza and the West Bank. In a September 2008 publicationhttp://www.washingtoninstitute.org/download.php?file=PolicyFocus88.pdf page xii of

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP or TWI, also known simply as The Washington Institute) is a pro-Israel American think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on the foreign policy of the United States in the Near East. WINE ...

Giora Eiland Giora Eiland ( he, גיורא איילנד; born 1952 in moshav Kfar Hess) is Major General (ret.) Israel Defense Forces. Eiland is a former head of the Israeli National Security Council. After his retirement from the public sector, he was a senio ...

wrote in support of the proposal. Proposals that the Palestinians be given Jordanian citizenship are strongly opposed by the Jordanian government."Jordan summons Israeli ambassador on bill"
Herb Keinon, ''Jerusalem Post'', May 26, 2009. In 2010, during the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, Jordanian politicians expressed fears that if the 2010 Israeli-Palestinian direct talks broke down and the Palestinian Authority collapsed, Jordan would be forced to reabsorb the West Bank and grant citizenship to its residents. Concern was also expressed that Israel may prefer this solution over the traditional two-state solution. Jordan, which back then was more than 50 percent Palestinian, would be further cemented as a ''de facto'' Palestinian state. However, some Jordanian officials have supported Jordanian control over the West Bank. In May 2010, the President of the Jordanian Senate

Taher al-Masri Taher Nashat al-Masri ( ar, طاهر المصري; born March 5, 1942) is a Jordanian of Palestinian origin who served as the 28th Prime Minister of Jordan from 19 June 1991 to 21 November 1991. He opposed the invasion of Iraq but reportedly wante ...

made reference in a speech to "the two united banks f the Jordan River with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan emerging on both banks of the holy river".

Proponents

The three-state solution is advocated by an editorial in ''

The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

'' and

Ian Bremmer Ian Arthur Bremmer (born November 12, 1969) is an American political scientist and author with a focus on global political risk. He is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm with principal offi ...

, neither of whom believe that the

or the

one-state solution The one-state solution, sometimes also called a bi-national state, is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, according to which one state must be established between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. Proponen ...

is viable. Former American ambassador to the United Nations

John R. Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Sta ...

has suggested a "'three-state' approach, where Gaza is returned to Egyptian control and the West Bank in some configuration reverts to Jordanian sovereignty".

Daniel Pipes Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian, writer, and commentator. He is the president of the Middle East Forum, and publisher of its ''Middle East Quarterly'' journal. His writing focuses on American foreign policy and th ...

describes the “Jordan-Egypt option" as "a uniquely sober way” to bring peace. Israeli MK

Aryeh Eldad Aryeh Eldad, M.D. ( he, אריה אלדד, born 1 May 1950) is an Israeli physician, politician and former medical officer. Eldad is a professor of medicine, and was head of the plastic surgery and burns unit at the Hadassah Medical Center. He w ...

has proposed that Palestinian Arabs be given Jordanian citizenship.

Gerald Levin Gerald M. "Jerry" Levin (born May 6, 1939) is an American mass-media businessman. Levin was involved in brokering the merger between AOL and Time Warner in 2000, at the height of the dot-com bubble, a merger which was ultimately disadvantageous ...

partook in discussions on building a canal from the Dead Sea at the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Foreign and Commonwealth Office in August 1997. The

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

is 430 m below sea level, and so a canal for fresh sea water could be built along the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

. With desalination, agricultural jobs for 1 million people within Jordan, Egypt and Israel would be sustainable. It was reported that Jordan agreed to administer between 17% and 21% of the West Bank, to facilitate canal construction with international assistance, which would increase Jordan's area to about 70% of the 1918 Palestine.

Alternative use of the phrase

The phrase ''three-state solution'' is also used not as a peace proposal, but as a description of the status quo that has existed since Hamas took control of Gaza away from the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

in 2007, effectively leaving three states, the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank, Israel, and Hamas-controlled Gaza in the territory west of the Jordan river. Others, including Kaveh L Afrasiabi, argue that the Hamas coup rendered the two-state solution impossible, and advocate the regularization of the status quo into three permanent sovereign states."The death of the two-state solution"
Kaveh L Afrasiabi, ''Asia Times'', June 20, 2007. In July 2012, it was reported Hamas was considering a declaration of independence with support of Egypt.

References

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Bibliography