The Geneva Initiative: Replacing One Futile Plan with Another
More than 16 years after the publication of the Geneva Initiative delineating a physical border in the heart of Jerusalem, those who dreamed it up are having second thoughts.
The division of the Holy City, according to the Geneva plan, would be underscored with three border-crossing points between Israel and the Arab state smack inside the city – unimaginable and unworkable. And in fact, the Israeli team continuing to work on the plan now admits that the original initiative is “irrelevant,” and now proposes keeping Jerusalem as an “open” city, capital to two states at once. They acknowledge, however, that they do not know how security could be maintained under such an arrangement.
Yet they continue to present this option as if it were realistic. A jointly-run Jerusalem would have to be isolated from the rest of Israel by tight borders in order to assure that people and goods from the Arab state not cross freely into the Jewish State. Similarly, the city would be separated from the “mainland” Arab state – and Israel would have to rely on the PA security forces to oversee the crossings there.
True, Jerusalem today is an open city to both Jews and Arabs. But they all live and work under one clear sovereignty; they know that Israel is boss. This would not be the case with shared sovereignty.
In this light, let us note the welcome and blessed expansion of Jewish neighborhoods. Work on tripling the size of Nof Tzion, south of the Old City, has been briskly underway for the past few months.