Over the past two years, Israel has experienced the painful reality of a lack of strategic policy. For more than a decade, the hopes of the center faction of Israeli politics have been pinned on the concept of "two states for two peoples" and "land for peace". The collapse of this model has created a strategic vacuum that Israel's current leaders are failing to fill. In front of our eyes we witness the trap – returning over and over again to policies already proven unsuccessful. Such policies are dangerous and harmful to the security of the State of Israel; its power of deterrence and to the West's stance against the Islamist threat.

Today "The Israeli Initiative" is the only idea to emanate from a group on the Israeli side that proposes a viable alternative to the concept of a Palestinian state. The Initiative's three principles are the keys to restoring the strategic balance to Israel's favor and to rescuing the Middle East from the terrible whirlpool of blood that in the past week alone claimed the lives of eight young students at the 'Merkaz HaRav' yeshiva in Jerusalem and continues to tear at the fabric of the lives of those living in Jewish communities surrounding Gaza. Those principles are (a) Jordan's return as a central player in the region (b) striving for the immediate and complete rehabilitation of the refugees, and (c) strengthening Israel's hold on Judea and Samaria.

It would appear that even if official factions in Israel and Jordan still haven’t adopted the Initiative, some of its ideas are already being implemented. The Israeli leadership is discovering time after time that the idea of a Palestinian state isn't practicable. Several days ago in an interview with Razi Barkai on Army Radio, Minister Rafi Eitan said, "the Palestinians don't have the internal ability to overcome the terror factions in their midst and they are losing both the ability and their entitlement to an independent Palestinian state." In conclusion, Minister Eitan added that it may be necessary for Jordan and Egypt to take responsibility for the regions of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and their residents. MK Benny Elon congratulated Minister Rafi Eitan for "his political sobering up" and told Army Radio listeners, "Even now, secret diplomatic channels exist are significantly advancing the exchange of a Palestinian partner with sovereign states such as Jordan and Egypt."

In addition, reinforcement of the 'Israeli Initiative's stance was heard from the direction of Minister of Infrastructure, Binyamin Ben Eliezer. Ben Eliezer warned of the potential for attacks on Israel from Judea and Samaria, and criticized the political course in which the conflict is being conducted. "Even the Palestinians have already changed the record on this topic. They want the right to a livelihood – not just the right of return."

Day by day Jordanian involvement in what is going on in Judea and Samaria is deepening. King Abdullah has become the central figure in contacts between Israel and the Palestinians, and over the past few weeks he has frequently expressed his wish for a speedy advance of the peace process and his fear of Iran's influence and of the processes of radicalization of the Palestinian street.

"The strong connection between the Hamas movement and Iran greatly scares King Abdullah who sees Iran as a great danger to the moderate Arab regimes,” wrote Arab affairs journalist Yoni Ben Menachem on the NFC website. “Jordan supports a peaceful solution to the Palestinian problem and disagrees with Hamas' ideology that the whole of Palestine ‘from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River’ is Muslim and that therefore they must gain control of it and destroy Israel. This ideology will also lead to Hamas' gaining control of Jordan and King Abdullah understands very well that this movement is also a big threat to his regime."

In Menachem’s words, Abdullah's fear is that the face of Hamas, which gained control of Gaza, "is now stumbling towards the direction of the West Bank and the rest is known, in the future the Hamas movement will also try and gain control of Jordan with Iran's encouragement. Israel is also very afraid of this possibility, Israel already has one border that is an extension of Iran in the Gaza Strip and doesn't want her longest border, the border with Jordan, to become an additional extension of Iran. The danger is apparent to everyone. Therefore, the security cooperation between Jordan and Israel is extremely close and is expressed by continuous coordination and reciprocal visits by the heads of the Secret Services of both states in Jordan and in Israel.

As reported in our previous newsletter, 'the Initiative' is mainly focused on political and diplomatic activities at the moment. The Initiative's leader, MK Benny Elon, returned a few days ago from the USA, where he held discussions on the Initiative's activities in Washington and successfully enlisted support for continuing activities both in Israel and overseas.

In the coming days our efforts will be dedicated to legislation in Congress. A major thrust will be to initiate changes in the perception regarding UNRWA's role and to lead to the process of rehabilitating the refugees with the support of the UN Agency for Refugees, a body known for its many successes in rehabilitating refugees from all over the world over the past fifty years.

In order to understand the distinction between UNRWA and the UN Agency for Refugees, read our booklet on refugees here. This booklet is currently being distributed to decision makers and those who shape public opinion. Its distribution amongst MKs and Members of Parliament has already yielded supportive reaction and deepened cross-party support – particularly in the Knesset. The upcoming meeting of the "Secondary Committee for Foreign Affairs and PR" of the Foreign and Security Committee will be dedicated to the topic of the refugees. Generally these meetings are not open to the public, but the very fact that this issue is being raised is an innovation testifying to the Initiative's success in bringing this topic to the forefront of the public agenda.

Anyone who has followed the remarks of senior Israeli officials in the last few months can notice a change based on the ideas put forward by the Initiative. Binyamin Netanyahu, for example, mentioned some of the principles during the opening of the Knesset's winter session. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in a recent speech, although continuing to support a Palestinian state also took pains to mention that this state will be responsible for rehabilitating the Palestinian refugees who in her words, are 'being held as playing cards'.

The next challenge regarding the refugees has already begun. The Israeli Initiative team is currently working diligently to prepare the first ever conference of its kind on the topic of refugees to take place in Israel during the coming months. Senior officials from the Israeli security and political fields, academics and journalists will participate, examining the topic of the refugees and their rehabilitation from various different angles. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of the State of Israel and the international community's treatment of this painful issue – that perpetuates Palestinian suffering, feeds and kindles the conflict, and ensures the continuation of instability. Whether Israel acts in the Gaza Strip, or an agreement will be reached between Israel and the Palestinians will not affect the refugee problem. Continuing to reject a solution to the refugee problem a priori limits every political agreement and every military achievement, and only diving into these deep waters has the power to rescue us from this political and strategic ebb.

As we continue to stress in every newsletter, we are interested in widening the circle of those receiving the 'Israeli Initiative' update. Please pass on this update to friends and bring more and more concerned people to join the thousands who have already subscribed. This is your way to be our partner in creating an alternative channel of communication that is not prisoner to the "vision of a two-state solution" and that is capable of an original way of thinking leading to a real solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

As always, we would be happy to receive your comments and responses.

Yoav Sorek
Israeli Initiative Team