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Israeli Pensioners’ Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan, who is also a member of the country’s Security Cabinet, told Israel’s Army Radio on March 4 that Egypt and Jordan might have to temporarily take control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Eitan was quoted as saying, “The Palestinians don’t have the internal ability to overpower the terrorist bodies within them. More and more, the Palestinians are losing their ability and entitlement to [establish] an independent Palestinian state.”
These comments are an Israeli attempt to deal with criticism from Egypt and Jordan for its recent ground operation in the Gaza Strip in which more than 70 Palestinians were killed. It is also an attempt to handle international pressure to push ahead with peace talks in the absence of a credible negotiating partner. The Israelis are letting Cairo and Amman know that the Jewish state would not have to take action in the Palestinian Territories if only they were managed by the two neighboring Arab states. Furthermore, the Israelis are trying to throw the responsibility of creating a sovereign Palestinian state into the Arabs’ hands.
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