US Plan Offers Palestinians Part of Southern Israel for Refugees

Refugees on Both Sides to Receive 'Compensation'

The “Kerry Plan” on a framework for Israel-Palestinian peace continues to morph in some surprising directions, with the latest idea from the US reportedly to compensate Palestine for annexed West Bank settlements with parts of the Negev.

The Negev, the mostly desert southern half of Israel, includes a lot of empty territory, and a lot of the development in the region has centered around it being a dumping ground for minorities in Israel.

The plan is to offer part of the Negev, presumably bordering the Gaza Strip, and let the Palestinians use that as a place for Palestinian refugees abroad to return in return for giving up the claim of a right of return to Israel.

The talks are said to focus considerably on compensation for refugees on both sides, with the Palestinians expelled from Israel during the Nakba as well as Jews expelled from other nations during the same period receiving some sort of compensation for their lost land.

The other major issue of discussion recently is the military future of Palestine, with President Mahmoud Abbas saying he has proposed an “indefinite” NATO military presence in the nation as a replacement for having a Palestinian Army of their own.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.