MK Elon proposes 'Israeli initiative'

National Union-National Religious Party chairman Benny Elon proved that peace plans were not limited to the Left on Sunday when he presented his solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - a plan dubbed the "Israeli initiative."...

"The political discourse in Israel consists of old-fashioned concepts and mistakes," Elon said. "The assumptions are that in order to achieve peace, we must relinquish territory; that the Palestinians are a partner; and that Israel is prohibited from dealing with the refugee problem. These conceptions have failed and brought us to the place we are today: No peace, terror, Hamas controls Gaza and is threatening to seize control of Judea and Samaria. We must reexamine all the underlying assumptions that brought us to this current situation, and think differently, 'outside the box.'"

According to the initiative, the West Bank would remain under Israeli sovereignty, but Palestinians would become Jordanian citizens. The plan is based on three main principles: the rehabilitation of refugees and the dismantling of the refugee camps; strategic cooperation with Jordan; and Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

Elon said Israel must strive to find a humanitarian solution to the Palestinian refugee problem instead of a political one...