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Israel-Palestine-Jordan economic federation can advance peace

An economic federation between Israel, Palestine and Jordan might facilitate the establishment of a Palestinian state by institutionalizing links between the Palestinians and Jordan and reducing Israeli fears concerning the Jordan Valley.
A Palestinian employee paid by the Palestinian Authority shows money to the camera after withdrawing cash from an ATM machine outside a bank, in Gaza City June 11, 2014. Gaza's public sector union suspended protests on Wednesday that had paralysed the local economy and threatened the deal on a Palestinian unity government but said it would resume its action if its members were not promptly paid. The pay dispute involving some 40,000 public servants erupted last week shortly after Hamas, which has ruled Gaza

Senior officials in Ramallah told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian Authority (PA) — alongside its statehood drive at the United Nations — will look for new plans to advance the two-state solution in coordination with the international community. 

The PA is advancing innovative plans that build on the fractured structure left behind by the war. Such an "out-of-the-box" idea has surfaced on the sidelines of the peace talks overseen by US Secretary of State John Kerry: a future economic federation between three sovereign states — Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Such a structure would facilitate the resolution of the permanent status issues and eventually lead to greater economic stability. The idea is based on the geographic and demographic proximity of the three countries, as well as on today's new geopolitical reality of a coalition of pragmatic Sunni countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the PA.

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