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.

Al Jazeera Rejects Iran’s Offer to Liberate Jerusalem

A few well-aimed verbal blows at an Iranian diplomat by an Al Jazeeera show host placed in bold relief the difference between Israel’s forward-looking vision and the Muslim world’s militant backwardness.

Host Feisal Al-Kassam was interviewing Iran’s Tamir Muswai when he suddenly broke into an agitated tirade: “You [Iranians] want to liberate Jerusalem? And what will you do with it? Will you join it to Baghdad, which the world sees as the filthiest capital in the world? Will you join it to Beirut, which has become the biggest garbage dump in the Middle East?… The Arab world tells you: ‘If you want to liberate Jerusalem for me, I don’t want you to.'”

The message is that, though the Arab world wants Jerusalem for itself, it knows that under Jewish Israeli sovereignty, Jerusalem represents accomplishment, beauty, prosperity and freedom.

For instance, it is a major draw for visitors from around the world. Over 3.1 million tourists visited Jerusalem in 2018, and close to 3.5 million in 2019. This is more than the total number to the countries of Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen combined. More than half the Arabs living in eastern Jerusalem said they would prefer to be citizens of Israel – and many others were scared to agree aloud, according to the mukhtar of Sur Baher, an Arab village in eastern Jerusalem.

Jerusalem under Israeli control has become a bastion of freedom and progress – freedom of religion and access to religious sites, growth in hi-tech and other advanced industry, architectural and ecological beauty, and a draw for visitors of all religions from all over the world.

More Arabs in Hebrew U – Good or Bad? Your Input Welcomed!

The number of Jerusalem Arab students in Hebrew University this year has practically doubled since last year. True, we’re not talking large absolute numbers, but the trend is more than clear. It means that the Arab population is becoming increasingly more at home in Israel’s Jewish society.

Many people would agree that in many ways, this is a positive development: Arabs are receiving better education, which will hopefully bring them to better respect democratic and humanistic values, will help decrease violence in their own communities, will improve their economic status, and will enable them to better contribute to Israeli society.

On the other hand, in terms of Israel’s capital city, this statistic comes on the backdrop of increasing growth of the city’s Arab population. If Arab residents actually become a majority in the city, this will have serious ramifications in terms of municipal political control, the infiltration of hostile elements in the management and finances of the city, assimilation, and more.

There are those who feel that because of the sharp divide between the city’s Jewish and Arab sections, Jerusalem must “inevitably” be divided – one part for each of the “two states” that they would like to see arise. A division of Jerusalem is fraught with dangers on many levels, as we have frequently explained. However, it now appears that this Jewish-Arab divide is not quite as sharp as was thought.

We invite feedback from our readers on this topic: Do the advantages outweigh the dangers? Should we welcome increased Arab involvement in Jerusalem, for itself and in order to prevent a catastrophic division of our eternal city? Or should we promote Israeli sovereignty only over areas that do not present these dangers? Please share your opinions with us at .