AP, Umm Al-Fahm, Israel :
It might have seemed to be one of the more innocuous elements in President Donald Trump’s deeply divisive Middle East peace initiative: the suggestion that a densely populated Arab region of Israel be added to a future Palestinian state, if both sides agree.
Instead, the proposal has infuriated many of Israel’s Arab citizens, who view it as a form of forced transfer. They want no part in the Palestinian state envisioned by the Trump administration, with many comparing it to the areas set aside for black South Africans as part of the apartheid government’s policy of racial segregation.
The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank also has adamantly rejected the plan, which would allow Israel to annex all of its settlements and large parts of the West Bank, leaving the Palestinians with limited autonomy in an archipelago of enclaves surrounded by Israel.
Inside Israel, outrage over the plan could once again mobilize Arab voters ahead of elections next month, potentially denying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu another term and throwing the implementation of the Trump plan – already a long shot – into greater doubt.
Arab citizens make up about 20% of Israel’s population. They can vote but face discrimination and higher levels of poverty. They have close family ties to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and many identify as Palestinians. But they are also deeply rooted in lands that are now part of Israel, and most are immersed in Israeli society. Their political parties advocate reform, not partition.
Many Jewish-Israelis nevertheless view Arab citizens with suspicion, seeing them as a fifth column sympathetic to the country’s enemies. A small number have been implicated in attacks, including on Thursday, when Israeli police say they shot and killed an Arab citizen in Jerusalem’s Old City after he opened fire and slightly wounded a police officer.
The Trump plan, released last week, “contemplates the possibility” that an area known as the Arab Triangle, which abuts the West Bank and is home to more than 250,000 Arab citizens, could be added to a future Palestinian state if both sides agree. The border would be redrawn, and no one would be uprooted from their homes.
But it raises questions of consent, as residents of the area have little power over the Israeli government or the Palestinian Authority.
Jamal Zahalka, a former member of the Israeli parliament from the staunchly pro-Palestinian Balad party, said the plan is the latest iteration of a decades-old Israeli policy of maximizing territory while preserving its Jewish majority.
“They want more land and less Arabs, that’s the point,” Zahalka said.
“We will have the bantustan of the triangle here, part of the Palestinian bantustans,” he added, using a term for segregated homelands from apartheid-era South Africa.
Since the Middle East peace initiative was announced last week, U.S. officials have played down the brief section of the 50-page plan that discusses the Arab Triangle.
“This is a territorial re-allocation. It is not intended to affect anybody’s citizenship,” Ambassador David Friedman told reporters last week.
“If there was interest in it, I would suspect there would be a lengthy legal discussion on how to implement it,” he added. “The Palestinians are welcome to engage.”
Israeli media have cited unnamed officials as saying Netanyahu has no intention of implementing the idea and is focused on other parts of the plan. His office declined to comment on the reports or the idea of transferring the Arab Triangle.
It might have seemed to be one of the more innocuous elements in President Donald Trump’s deeply divisive Middle East peace initiative: the suggestion that a densely populated Arab region of Israel be added to a future Palestinian state, if both sides agree.
Instead, the proposal has infuriated many of Israel’s Arab citizens, who view it as a form of forced transfer. They want no part in the Palestinian state envisioned by the Trump administration, with many comparing it to the areas set aside for black South Africans as part of the apartheid government’s policy of racial segregation.
The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank also has adamantly rejected the plan, which would allow Israel to annex all of its settlements and large parts of the West Bank, leaving the Palestinians with limited autonomy in an archipelago of enclaves surrounded by Israel.
Inside Israel, outrage over the plan could once again mobilize Arab voters ahead of elections next month, potentially denying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu another term and throwing the implementation of the Trump plan – already a long shot – into greater doubt.
Arab citizens make up about 20% of Israel’s population. They can vote but face discrimination and higher levels of poverty. They have close family ties to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and many identify as Palestinians. But they are also deeply rooted in lands that are now part of Israel, and most are immersed in Israeli society. Their political parties advocate reform, not partition.
Many Jewish-Israelis nevertheless view Arab citizens with suspicion, seeing them as a fifth column sympathetic to the country’s enemies. A small number have been implicated in attacks, including on Thursday, when Israeli police say they shot and killed an Arab citizen in Jerusalem’s Old City after he opened fire and slightly wounded a police officer.
The Trump plan, released last week, “contemplates the possibility” that an area known as the Arab Triangle, which abuts the West Bank and is home to more than 250,000 Arab citizens, could be added to a future Palestinian state if both sides agree. The border would be redrawn, and no one would be uprooted from their homes.
But it raises questions of consent, as residents of the area have little power over the Israeli government or the Palestinian Authority.
Jamal Zahalka, a former member of the Israeli parliament from the staunchly pro-Palestinian Balad party, said the plan is the latest iteration of a decades-old Israeli policy of maximizing territory while preserving its Jewish majority.
“They want more land and less Arabs, that’s the point,” Zahalka said.
“We will have the bantustan of the triangle here, part of the Palestinian bantustans,” he added, using a term for segregated homelands from apartheid-era South Africa.
Since the Middle East peace initiative was announced last week, U.S. officials have played down the brief section of the 50-page plan that discusses the Arab Triangle.
“This is a territorial re-allocation. It is not intended to affect anybody’s citizenship,” Ambassador David Friedman told reporters last week.
“If there was interest in it, I would suspect there would be a lengthy legal discussion on how to implement it,” he added. “The Palestinians are welcome to engage.”
Israeli media have cited unnamed officials as saying Netanyahu has no intention of implementing the idea and is focused on other parts of the plan. His office declined to comment on the reports or the idea of transferring the Arab Triangle.
