Scott McConnell writes:
Begin's plan consisted of 26 articles. It envisaged the abolition of Israeli military government and its replacement by administrative autonomy of the residents of the West Bank and Gaza for an initial period of five years. . .Security and public order were to be Israel's responsibility. . . . [NOW IT GETS INTERESTING] The Arab residents would be allowed a free choice between Israeli and Jordanian citizenship, and this choice was to determine where they would have to vote. A joint committee of Israel, Jordan and the adminstrative council would review and amend existing legisltion. Another committee would determine norms of immigration, including immigration by refugees. Israeli citizens were to be permitted to purchase land and to settle in Judea and Samaria and in Gaza. Residents of these territories who opted for Israeli citizenship would be permitted to purchase land and settle in Israel. These principles would be subject to review after a five year period.
I haven't investigated this further and obviously nothing came of it, but in the hands of a shrewd Palestinian negotiator, a proposal like this might lead in interesting directions. Could Menachem Begin have midwifed the one-state solution? In a somewhat parallel vein, I've read on Helena Cobban's blog that local Hamas figures on the West Bank could often negotiate quite reasonable modus vivendis with the settlers and their rabbis–the latter being more interested in the rights of Jews in Biblical lands than the non-rights of Arabs.
McConnell is for 2-state solution, I think the way a lot of us are, to end this madness. But note that his point about a de facto one-state solution is also made by Dana in this post on Palestinian civil rights inside Israel.
