The Federation of Israel and Palestine

 
 

Introduction

The enclosed plan is inspired by various political proposals from activists and politicians from both Israel and Palestine, as well as the diaspora Jewish and Palestinian communities:

Prime Minister Menachem Begin Z”L
Uri Avnery, MK (Fmr.) Z’L
Natan Yellin-Mor, MK (Fmr.) Z’L
A.B. Yehoshua’ Z”L
Aryeh Hess, the Jewish Agency
Rabbi Menahem Froman Z”L
Muhammad Dajani Daoudi, the Wasatia’ Movement
Kamal Nawash, Esq. (USA)

Preamble:

The Federation of Israel and Palestine is a proposed cooperative union between its constituent states, Israel and Palestine, both representing the national aspirations of the Jewish and Palestinian peoples respectively for maximized independence, security, and political autonomy.

Regions
States

The United States of Jerusalem: States

Blue: the State of Israel
Light Blue: 2 Arab Majority regions of the State of Israel
Green: the State of Palestine
Yellow: Federal District of Jerusalem
Purple: Golan Heights

Credit: Rafi Gassel

This union will combine elements of confederation and federation, allowing for both states to separately govern their peoples independently, while installing a shared branch of governance that ensures the protection of human rights, freedom of movement, the flexibility of residency, and solutions to common issues from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.

State Powers and Jurisdiction

Within each state’s jurisdiction, it will have the power of law enforcement and governance for its citizens and residents and will be bound by the mutual agreements embodied in federal law.

The final jurisdiction of each constituent state will be developed upon mutually agreed boundaries between the two states through negotiations to ensure that both national bodies have the most expansive and contiguous territory possible.

The Jerusalem municipality will become a federal district, under the control of a joint municipality, consisting of both Israeli and Palestinian boros of West and East Jerusalem respectively.

The jurisdiction of the pre-existing constituent state of Israel will be based primarily on its existing official territory with its capital in Western Jerusalem, with minor land swaps. The jurisdiction of the currently de jure state of Palestine will be primarily made up of the territory of the West Bank and its capital will be located in the boro of Eastern Jerusalem.

The boundary between both states will be open for the free movement of people and goods, as well as the existence of a state-of-the-art intelligence apparatus to monitor possible security threats to replace existing checkpoints.

[Note: Until Hamas signs a peace agreement with Israel or is dismantled, there cannot be a final status agreement on Gaza. Upon Hamas’ acceptance of peace with Israel or removal from power, Israel and Palestine will conduct a humanitarian campaign with international partners to bring societal and economic stability to the area. Upon completion of this campaign, a referendum will be called in Palestine and Gaza to determine Gaza’s status within the Federation, including admission into the state of Palestine or recognition as an independent city-state within the Federation.]

Citizenship and Demography

The Federal Ministry of Immigration will work with both states to ensure ongoing demographic majorities of Jews in Israel and Palestinians in Palestine, as well as ensure coordination for the allocation of appropriate resources to enable the incorporation of both future immigrants.

Israel will annex the largest settlements near the Green Line (incl. Ariel, Beitar Illit, Gush ‘Etzion, Modi’in Illit, etc.), removing nearly ⅔ of Israelis from the state of Palestine. The remaining Israelis, estimated at nearly 150,000, will be tallied and registered as permanent residents in the state of Palestine, with an option for switching state affiliation after living in Palestine for a term of at least 5 years with good behavior

An equal number of Palestinian refugees, vetted for security purposes, will be allowed to move into Israel as permanent residents over a period of 5 years, with an option for switching state affiliation after living in Israel, for a term of at least 5 years with good behavior. All Israeli citizens of Palestinian ancestry will have the option to either maintain their state affiliation or switch it to Palestinian affiliation. Each citizen of the Federation may only retain state affiliation in one state at a time.

Palestine would receive empty land in Israel in exchange for territories annexed to Israel from Palestine. As a gesture of reconciliation, the state of Israel will rebuild a number of depopulated pre-1948 Arab villages in Israeli territory, allowing many refugees to achieve the dream of returning to the general area of their hometowns.

Communities of permanent residents will be registered as members of the local regional council of the state in which they reside. While maintaining their Israeli and Palestinian state affiliation which will enable them to vote for their respective state parliaments, their Federal citizenship will enable them to vote in equal measure for local and regional elections, for issues impacting their daily lives including public services, infrastructure, and education.

Electoral Reform and Regional Governance

To ensure the accommodation of the diverse ways of life in both states, both Israel and Palestine will demarcate the creation of 18 regional administrative zones, encompassing the territories of both states. To accommodate a Jewish majority and ensure equal representation of non-Jewish citizens, Israel will have 9 Jewish majority regions, as well as 2 Arab majority mixed regions (Akko and Yam haMelah). At the same time, Palestine will comprise 7 exclusively Arab-majority regions.

This new mechanism of governance will allow for localities to help develop their respective regions both economically and culturally while bringing local communities together in cooperation. This will allow for regions, such as Bet Shemesh or Tel Aviv, to best develop regional policies that best fit their population, while allowing citizens across the country to continue cooperating on national political programs.

Israel’s Knesset will undergo a process of reform, adding a second house for representation of the members of each regional government, Bet ha’Elyon (the Upper House) which will operate alongside Israel’s current Knesset body, which will be termed Bet haTahton (The Lower House). The Lower House and Upper House will comprise 120 and 60 members respectively The Lower House will have the number of representatives attached proportionately to the population of the 12 regions of the state of Israel, the 11 Districts, and the Israeli Boroughs of the Jerusalem Federal Region. The 60 members of the Upper House will be distributed evenly to these 12 regions as 5 Senators per region.

To ensure the continuity of political culture, the Palestinian parliament will adopt a similar mode of governance, turning the Palestinian Legislative Council into the lower house (Majlis al-Nuwab) and creating an Upper House (Majlis al 'Alwi)  for all the regional representatives. The Lower House and Upper House will comprise 120 and 64 members respectively. The Lower House will have the number of representatives attached proportionately to the population of the 8 regions of the state of Palestine, the 7 Districts, and the Palestinian Boroughs of the Jerusalem Federal Region. The 64 members of the Upper House will be distributed evenly to the 8 regions as 8 Senators per region.

The Lower and Upper houses will undergo election cycles every 4 years, ensuring a fresh government that will best represent the people of both states and all their regions.

Residents of the two Bi-National Boroughs in Jerusalem will have their choice to vote for either  the Israeli or Palestinian national parliaments.

Boroughs of the Federal District of Jerusalem-Al Quds

Blue: Israeli Boroughs
Green: Palestinian Boroughs
Yellow: BiNational Boroughs and Government Quarter

Federal Governance

The Federal Government

The Federacy will consist of a central, shared regime to address mutual concerns of both countries, made up of institutions including, but not limited to:

  1. The Federal Parliament: the federal legislative body that provides resolutions to common issues for both member states. (Further description below)
  2. The Federal Council: the joint executive body of elected officials to formally enact common legislation of the Federal Parliament. (Further description below)
  3. A Federal Ministry of Immigration: A body that will coordinate between the ministries of absorption for both states, allowing for the rights of the diasporas of both peoples to come back to the land. While both states will enact immigration controls to keep their populations at a stable proportion of their representative nation. (Further description below)
  4. The establishment of the Israeli-Palestinian Common Market, as well as other Economic and fiscal bodies (The Federal Bank of Israel-Palestine, with the Shekel as its official currency.)
  5. Joint Israeli-Palestinian Authorities over common infrastructure and resources, including roads, electricity, and water.
  6. A common Supreme Court where the justices of both nations will arbitrate legal disputes involving both states.

 

Federal Parliament

The Federal Parliament, the common governmental body for both states, will allow the enactment of legislation of laws relevant to shared issues for the peoples of Israel and Palestine.

The Parliament will be composed of the two houses respectively, representing the Jewish and Palestinian peoples in equal measure. The Levantine Parliament elections will take place every 6 years, so as not to coincide with the legislative and executive elections in both states.

Like the two states, the Federal Parliament will be made into two Houses, Upper and Lower, with 60 and 120 representatives each. The Upper House will be composed of 3 representatives from each District of the States of Israel and Palestine as well as 6 representatives from the Jerusalem Federal Region, 3 from the Israeli Boroughs, and 3 from the Palestinian Boroughs. The Lower House will be made of representatives from each of these same regions with the number of representatives distributed to each region proportional to the population.

Citizens of both Israel and Palestine will be able to vote for the Federal Parliament based on their current area of residency, regardless of their state affiliation. The Parliament will only have the ability to make changes to the constitution in the case of a 3/4 majority of the representatives of both peoples.

As a common body, the Parliament will direct its legislative activities to issues including:

  • Economic and Fiscal Policies
  • Joint infrastructure
  • Environmental Protection
  • Regional Cooperation
  • Diplomacy

As a common body, the Parliament will not interfere with the legislative activities of its constituents, with the exception of:

  1. Affiliation with an enemy state or nation.
  2. Coordination of security of cross-border ethnic/communal violence or tensions.
  3. Declaration of war upon the other constituent state.
  4. Economic sanctions against the other constituent state and its people.
  5. Violations of Federal Law or the Constitution

At the head of the Levantine Parliament will sit the Federal Council which will be elected amongst the party heads of the various factions within the Joint Legislature. This body will include the 7 ministers formed as part of a coalition government, with one of the 7 ministers acting as the prime minister when elected for this task for a one-year period by the Levantine Parliament. This minister may only be prime minister for one year at a time after which another one of the 7 must be elected from a different political party and the Prime minister of the previous year serves as deputy prime minister the following year.

The Federal Council will have the authority to:

  1. Coordinate internal and external security including the defense of all states from external aggression, as well as the prevention of terrorism or rebellions from militant groups. Israel will maintain the IDF and its internal security service while allowing Palestinian Security Forces to maintain control over the West Bank and Gaza.
  2. Convene with religious leaders (whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Druze, Samaritan, etc.) to address the needs of their communities across state boundaries.
  3. Coordinate the provision of services of infrastructure, including energy and water, as well as joint environmental and security concerns.
  4. Ensure the proper functioning of the Israeli-Palestinian Common Market, promoting stable and equitable growth inside and between both nations.
  5. Conduct foreign relations on behalf of the Federation as a whole.
  6. Create federation-wide standards of safety and education.

A Joint security council will be comprised of the Prime Ministers, Defense Ministers, the internal security ministers, and the heads of the armed forces of the Federation and of the constituent states to handle serious security situations such as a war or major military action in response to a credible threat to the Federation or its constituent states.

Immigration Policy to the Federation and the Constituent States

Any citizen who is a citizen or resident of Israel or Palestine at the founding of the Federation or has immigrated to the Federation and lived there for a period of at least five years is considered a Veteran Citizen. A Veteran Citizen may move to any region or state in the Federation and will vote in regional, municipal and Federal elections from their new residency.

If a Veteran citizen has moved to the other constituent state and lived there for a period of at least 5 years, they may apply to switch State Affiliation. Each state may limit the number of citizens of the other state that may switch State Affiliation such that they maintain a stable majority of their representative national group affiliated with their state.

New Immigrants are immigrants who have not lived in the Federation yet for at least five years.

New Immigrants of Jewish origin may move to the State of Israel, the state of Palestine will be allowed to limit the number of New Immigrants of Jewish origin who move to the state of Palestine and these immigrants will be allowed to choose either Israel or Palestine State Affiliation subject to limitations such that each state may limit the number of citizens of the other state that may switch State Affiliation such that they maintain a stable majority of their representative national group affiliated with their state.

New Immigrants of Palestinian origin may move to the State of Palestine, the state of Israel will be allowed to limit the number of New Immigrants of Palestinian origin who move to the state of Palestine and these immigrants will be allowed to choose either Israel or Palestine State Affiliation subject to limitations such that each state may limit the number of citizens of the other state that may switch State Affiliation such that they maintain a stable majority of their representative national group affiliated with their state.

Overall Immigration to the Federation will be coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Absorption and by agreement with the constituent states such that a roughly equal number of persons of Jewish and Palestinian origin be permitted to immigrate to the Federation as a whole on an annual basis. A reasonable suggestion would be around 1% annual immigration distributed evenly between the two groups. For example that would mean around 65,000 immigrants from each population group would be allowed to immigrate on an annual basis. This number can be adjusted as needed.