HKOPS still the world’s best kept secret

I was privileged to attend the inaugural Jewish News Syndicate International Policy Summit in Jerusalem on 27/28 April (JNS Conference) – but shocked to find that none of the well- credentialled international and Israeli speakers I approached had ever heard of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (HKOPS).

HKOPS calls for the creation of a new territorial entity comprising Jordan, Gaza, and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to be named The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.

HKOPS first emanated in Saudi Arabia in March 2020.

Authored by Ali Shihabi – an advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) – HKOPS presented an alternative solution to President Trump’s Deal of the Century which called for sovereignty in  Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza to be divided between Israel and a newly-demilitarized Palestinian Arab state to be created for the first time in history between Israel and Jordan – rejected outright by PLO Leader Mahmoud Abbas.

HKOPS reappeared in a revised form when the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News published it on 8 June 2022.

 Such a publication would have certainly required MBS’s permission because of the revolutionary outcomes its successful implementation promised:

• Overturning Saudi Foreign Policy, extending as far back as 1982
• Trashing the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

Even more surprisingly, HKOPS was further amended on 19 June 2022 – but never published in Al Arabiya News or any other publication.

I founded an international movement called Jordan is Palestine Committee (JIP) in 1980, calling for Israel and Jordan to divide sovereignty of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) between their two respective States and for Israel, Jordan and Egypt to agree on the allocation of sovereignty in Gaza between their three respective States.

JIP’s objectives were similar to HKOPS – but could not possibly promise in advance the above outcomes reversing Arab foreign policies going back 40 years.

JIP sank from sight when the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993 – until JIP’s solutions were publicly resurrected by HKOPS in 2022.

I began writing about HKOPS within days of its publication – even making contact with Shihabi – who co-operated with me in publishing an article detailing the features of HKOPS.

For unstated reasons, Shihabi has cut off communication with me, and Al Arabiya News has banned my access to its site.

I forwarded many of my articles to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for comment. My emails were not even acknowledged, as silence has reigned supreme at the United Nations, which has chosen to continue to push for the creation of a Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan – a solution that is dead and buried after thirty years of going nowhere.

I contacted many political analysts and international think tanks, urging them to publish articles on HKOPS. Only one did so.

With the region now in turmoil after Gaza’s invasion of Israel on 7 October 2023 – HKOPS stands out as the only solution capable of being implemented in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to end more than 100 years of unresolved conflict between Arabs and Jews there.

President Trump has stated his position on Gaza. He is yet to state his position on Judea and Samaria (West Bank) – well overdue after being promised in early March.

It seems increasingly likely that Trump will call for a new international border to be agreed between Israel and Jordan in direct negotiations chaired by Saudi Arabia or America.

HKOPS was definitely the elephant in the room at the JNS Conference.

Implementing HKOPS still remains the best way forward as the solution so desperately needed to end rapidly escalating tensions involving Iran, Israel, many Arab States and Arab terrorist organisations – and increasing Jew-hatred worldwide.

Author’s note: The cartoon was drawn in 2022 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