Guterres chooses to prolong the Jewish-Arab conflict than end it

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the United Nations still continue to believe that the creation of a new Arab State between Israel and Jordan – located in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – is the only solution that can lead to the end of the 130-year-old Jewish-Arab conflict (two-state solution).

At a press conference held by Guterres on 29 January – the following exchange took place:

“Are you still optimistic that there is still a two-State solution in the horizon?

Secretary-General: I always respond to that question with the same answer, which is a sentence of Jean Monnet – that’s that I’m not optimistic. I’m not pessimistic. I’m determined. And I’m determined to oppose and to oppose in a very strong way all the efforts that Israel is doing to undermine the two-State solution, namely through, in the West Bank, the construction of settlements, demolitions, evictions and the violence of the settlers. And we believe that this must stop, and we believe that conditions must be created to make sure that Gaza, that will have now its new governance model, that governance model progressively is linked to the Palestinian Authority, and that Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, will be the future state of Palestine.”

Guterres determination is misguided and dangerous – guaranteeing the continuation of the 130 years-old Jewish-Arab conflict – with more Jews and Arabs – and others – becoming its victims – and ensuring the United Nations remains the epicentre of the world’s Jew-hatred as it continues to deny the legal right of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in Gaza and the WestBank in accordance with articles 6 and 25 of the 1923 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the United Nations own Charter.

Guterres and the United Nations need to explain why they have refused to consider an alternative solution – first proposed in Saudi Arabia on 8 June 2022 by an advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one new territorial entity under Hashemite rule – to be named “The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine” (HKOPS).

Had they done so – Gaza’s invasion of Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing conflict between them – that has since extended to involve Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran – could well have been prevented.

Even worse – Guterres had ignored scores of emails I sent to him prior to 23 October 2023 – and thereafter- to urgently comment on articles published by me dealing with HKOPS as an alternative to the two-state solution and requesting his comments – which I offered to publish verbatim.

HKOPS calls for negotiations between Israel and Jordan to divide sovereignty of the West Bank between their two respective states – that will see Arab residents living west of the Jordan River being reunited and reunified with the Arab residents living east of the Jordan River under Hashemite rule – as actually existed between 1950 and and 1967 when the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan conquered the West Bank (then called Judea and Samaria) – and unified the two territorial entities – renaming the newly-merged entity “ The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan”.

Rather than continuing to denigrate and besmirch Israel for pursuing what Israel is entitled to do under international law – Guterres, the United Nation General Assembly and Security Council need to consider replacing their failed two-state solution by urgently endorsing the implementation of HKOPS.

Time is running out for Guterres and the United Nations to remain relevant in seeing an end to the Jewish-Arab conflict.

Author’s note: The cartoon was published in July 2023 by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of

Israel’s foremost political and social commentators – who passed away on 14 April 2025 and whose cartoons graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades

 

David Singer is a Sydney lawyer and a foundation member of the International Analysts Network