Elon Peace Plan

The Elon Peace Plan (also formerly "The Right Road to Peace"; now "The Israeli Initiative") is a plan to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through the principles of rehabilitation of Palestinian refugees, Israeli sovereignty, and strategic cooperation with Jordan.[1]

Part of a series on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Israeli–Palestinian peace process
History Camp David Accords 1978 Madrid Conference 1991 Oslo Accords 1993 / 95 Hebron Protocol 1997 Wye River Memorandum 1998 Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum 1999 Camp David Summit (parameters) 2000 Taba Summit 2001 Road Map 2003 Agreement on Movement and Access 2005 Annapolis Conference 2007 Mitchell-led talks 2010–11 Kerry-led talks 2013–14
Primary concerns Final borders Israeli settlements Jewish state Palestinian political violence Palestinian refugees Security concerns Status of Jerusalem Zionist political violence
Secondary concerns Israeli West Bank barrier Places of worship Fatah–Hamas conflict Water Electricity
International brokers The "Quartet" (United Nations United States European Union Russia) Arab League Egypt Jordan United Kingdom France
Proposals One-state solution: Isratin Elon Peace Plan Two-state solution: Allon Plan Arab Peace Initiative Geneva Initiative Lieberman Plan Israeli Peace Initiative Palestinian Prisoners' Document Three-state solution Zero-state solution Israeli unilateral plans: Hafrada Disengagement Realignment
Projects / groups / NGOs Peace-orientated projects  Israeli–Palestinian economic peace efforts  Valley of Peace  Middle East economic integration  Alliance for Middle East Peace  Peres Center for Peace

The plan was originally proposed in 2002 by then-Israeli tourism minister Rabbi Binyamin Elon. It advocates the formal annexation of West Bank and Gaza by Israel, the Palestinians becoming citizens of Jordan, which would become a Palestinian state, with their final status to be negotiated. The Palestinian refugee camps would be dismantled, and the Palestinian refugees would be fully absorbed into their host countries. Elon and Moledet (Elon's party and the chief supporter of this plan) proposed that "Israel, the United States and the international community will allocate resources for the completion of the exchange of populations that began in 1948 and the full rehabilitation of the refugees and their absorption and naturalization in various countries".

Elon continued to advance his plan, including a 2004 visit to Jordan for this purpose,[2] but did not manage to win substantial support for it.

General public support for Elon and his plan has been ambiguous. The National Union received 5.5% support on the Israeli legislative election of 2003[3] (which went up to 7.14% in the 2006 election after the party's merger with the National Religious Party[4]).

The changing political climate in Israel following the 2006 Lebanon war and the Hamas takeover of the Gaza strip prompted Elon to resume advancing his plan in 2007, complete with a million-dollar advertising campaign, as "The Israeli Initiative – The Right Road for Peace". Similar in principle to his original proposition, this new formulation gave up on the idea of a Palestinian state being formed in Jordan; while it still has Israel annexing the West Bank, it proposes that the Palestinians would become citizens of Jordan and residents of Israel rather than being re-located (though it also advocates providing them with a financial incentive to leave of their own accord). This idea directly opposes the direction taken by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Kadima-Labor coalition, which aims to negotiate with the Palestinians with the ultimate goal of establishing a Palestinian state.

The case presented by proponents of the plan[5] is that Israel, the Palestinians, Jordan and other moderate Arab states would all benefit from such a solution. Ideally, Israel could see a sharp drop in terrorist attacks and the dissipation of the demographic threat; Millions of Palestinians would turn from refugees to citizens and would be given new economical opportunities; and the abolition of the Palestinian state would prevent an extremist threat to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, while international financial support and increased co-operation with Israel would provide financial growth and opportunities (which, to a lesser degree, applies to other Arab states as well). Republican US Senator and former presidential candidate Sam Brownback has expressed support of the plan.[6]

In an essay titled "The Yamin [right-wing] Israel Plan", Prof. Paul Eidelberg wrote that "Even if [the Palestinians] were made Jordanian citizens, as proposed by the otherwise meritorious Elon Plan, it is wishful thinking to believe they will live in peace with the Jews in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza".[7]