Trump's peace plan: Grant Jordanian citizenship to a million Palestinian refugees - report
Trump will also ask Egypt to grant citizenship to Palestinian refugees.
By YVETTE J. DEANEPalestinian refugees hold Palestinian flags and chant slogans during a protest in front of UNRWA office in Amman, September 2, 2018. (photo credit: MUHAMMAD HAMED / REUTERS)
President Donald Trump will push for Jordan to grant citizenship to one million Palestinian refugees as part of his "Deal of the Century," according to the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar.Trump will also ask Egypt to grant citizenship to Palestinian refugees. Granting Palestinians refugees citizenship status from other countries may be a way for Trump to avoid establishing a Palestinian state. The report hints that a confederation of three states may be an option, where there would be a joint government between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority for specific and limited purposes.According to the report, Jordanian King Abdullah II expressed opposition to the establishment of a joint confederation and told Egyptian leaders that he prefers Jordan to remain in charge of the holy sites in Jerusalem "without interfering in the details between the Israelis and the Palestinians."If the Al Akhbar report is correct, Jordan and Egypt will receive USD $110 billion in economic aid, according to the report. It is not yet clear where this reported aid will come from. Jordan would receive USD $45 billion, and the remainder would go to Egypt. For both of the countries part of the money will be used for implementing projects on the ground.The absorption would happen in stages, where the largest number of refugees that Jordan would have to take in at one time would be 300,000. Palestinians from Gaza who are currently in Jordan would be included in this deal.Part of the deal would also include giving Jordanian land, Naharayim and Tzofar, to Israel. These enclaves are currently leased to Israel, but officially Jordanian land. In return, Jordan would receive land from Saudi Arabia, the report claimed.Al Akhbar reported that Trump intends on updating Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the details of his peace plan.Trump would also propose that Lebanon absorbs a portion of their Palestinian refugees, but if the refugees accept Lebanese citizenship, they would forgo their claim to the right of return.There have been various reports on what Trump's peace plan might include. Channel 13 News reported in January, that the deal would include a Palestinian state with 85-90% of the West Bank and the division of Jerusalem.The report, based on a source who took part in a briefing in Washington on the plan by a senior American official, said it calls for the annexation of the large settlements and the evacuation of settlement outposts deemed illegal under Israeli law.
