Jordan, Palestinians Angered by Proposal by Netanyahu’s Party

 Jordanian officials in Amman summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest a proposal made by members of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party to annex parts of the West Bank and place Palestinian population centers under Jordanian jurisdiction. The proposal was made as an alternative to a Palestinian state, the idea of which has not been embraced by Netanyahu, to the chagrin of the American administration. The Israeli premier has long been associated with those Israelis who assert that Jordanian sovereignty over the Palestinians is the correct historical and political solution to the Palestinian issue. The vast majority of the international community, including the United States, is unequivocal in its support for a two-state solution that includes the Jewish state of Israel and the new state of Palestine. On the eve of a White House visit by Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud ‘Abbas, the Palestinians have reacted angrily to the Likud proposal and to word that the Israelis want the Obama administration to sign off on an Israeli commitment to dismantle as many as 20 outposts – the beginnings of Jewish communities in post-1967 territory – in exchange for U.S. approval to build in line with natural growth in post-1967 communities that Israel presumes will remain under its sovereignty in any final agreement. ‘Abbas will demand that the U.S. reject both Israeli plans when he meets with U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday.