Only 120 years ago, most parts of the Middle East, including Palestine and the entire Sinai Peninsula, were a desolated, arid land mass, which did not belong to any country. It was a no-man's land with which, for 2,000 years, Jews had an unbroken spiritual and historical bond. The creation of a Mandate system after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and the grid of the new It will separate the two entirely incompatible communities. masters, Britain and France, laid the foundations of the current Arab-Israel conflict. Trans-Jordan was part of the Palestine Mandate, which was allocated for creation of a Jewish state by the League of Nations in 1922, in accordance with the Balfour Declaration. Therefore, its separation from Palestine Mandate land was an illegal act. Unfortunately, the dominant imperial powers, Britain and France, controlled the League of Nations, which they used to rubber stamp their shady deals at the time. As a result of the deal, in 1922, in order to secure Britain's financial interests in the Suez Canal, Sinai was illegally given to Egypt by the British with the permission of King Hussein of Hejaz and Nejd, now Saudi Arabia. In return, Britain transferred control of the land east of the river Jordan to Hussein's son, Abdullah. Control of the Golan Heights was transferred to the French-run Syria Mandate; in exchange, the United Kingdom got control of newly discovered oil fields in Kirkuk. Since its independence, Israel has fought many wars with its implacable Arab neighbours, signed numerous cease-fires, so-called hudnas and even peace agreements. But all those efforts have not brought about any permanent solution to the endless terror Israeli society has been enduring daily. The solution that can bring permanent peace to Israel and let Arabs live with dignity in their own country was proposed over 100 years ago. It has been deliberately ignored and disallowed by the United Nations. It is the Sinai Option - the transfer of all of the Arab population from the land that used to be called the Palestine Mandate to the Sinai Peninsula, an area of contiguous land comparable in size to the entire Palestine Mandate (Israel, Gaza, Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and Jordan). This plan presents a real opportunity for a permanent peace. 1. It will separate the two entirely incompatible communities and will create an environment conducive to the development of a new Arab entity totally independent from Israel. 2. It will provide Arabs with a contiguous landmass. Isn't that what the Palestinian Authority is demanding? 3. It will give Arabs full territorial, financial, military, political and religious control over the land, natural resources and population. There will be no dependency on Israel. 4. The new entity will be accountable for its actions in accordance with international law. 5. Israel will be able to securely control its border with the new Arab entity and keep it accountable for any terror activity. 6. All anti-Israel terror-inclined elements will be removed from the Jewish lands. And this plan is relatively easy to implement, because: a. the new entity can be either part of Egypt or become another independent Arab state; b. there are only around 250,000 people living in Sinai today, predominantly Bedouins; c. the Sinai Option will resolve the so-called "Palestinian refugee question," as they can easily be settled in the All anti-Israel terror-inclined elements will be removed from the Jewish lands. Sinai (note: over 70% of Jordan's population are so-called Palestinians; others are descendants of refugees from Saudi Arabia.); d. every year the international community has been wasting billions of dollars merely on conflict maintenance in the region. The Sinai Option offers the opportunity for investment in a permanent resolution of the conflict; and it will free up billions of dollars that can be used to alleviate the suffering of people the world over; e. population transfers were successfully implemented before and after the adoption of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In fact, Israel is the only country this resolution targeted in order to prevent the transfer of the Arab population from Israel after the War of Independence; f. it will create investment opportunities and would be of great benefit to Egypt, as well as a financial bonanza for the Arabs who are currently living in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Jordan; g. it will improve the lifestyle and living conditions of millions of Arabs and will bring peace, stability and prosperity to Jews in Israel; and h. The plan can be implemented humanely and gradually under supervision of the international community or it can be implemented by force, unilaterally by Israel, when the Arab enemies of the Jewish state start the next war or perpetrate the hideous act of terror against the Israeli population. Israel must be ready to implement the Sinai Option at any time. This is the only way toward permanent peace in the region and fulfillment of the 2,000-year-old commandment and inspiration of the Jewish people - the return to the G-d-given land of our ancestors. The international community, Arab and Muslim countries insist that they want peace in the Middle East. So why don't they even want to hear about this alternative plan? And the fact that during the breakout through the Sinai border with Egypt, instigated and planned in advance by Hamas, half of Gaza's population was able to cross the border during the first two days is proof that the Sinai Option would be easy to implement. It is the practical way to start the process of ending Arab occupation of Jewish land, and establishing true and permanent peace in Israel, free of Arab terror.
