Dear Editor,
The Israeli-Palestinian never-ending wars might be neutralized if the UN purchased the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, creating a permanent home for the Palestinians — with a demilitarized buffer zone between them and Israel. Israel could then order all Palestinians out of Gaza (sans weapons) by a set date after which Israel will level the Gaza. The leveling would be necessary inasmuch as physically occupying the Gaza, as is, would subject Israeli soldiers to boobytraps, land mines and/or suicide assaults. The Gaza Strip would then revert to Israel. The prisoners held by Hamas must be released before this New Palestinian state would be acknowledged by the UN.
The Sinai is sparsely populated (600,000 Egyptians), mostly desert and mountainous — but with borders to the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. It measures 15M acres — 100x the size of Gaza. Value: 15M acres at $1000/acre = $15B (cost of the missile defense system given to Poland). To entice the deal, the U.S. could divert the $6B Biden has earmarked for Iran.
Palestinians who claim the Sinai Peninsula is uninhabitable would have to answer the question: Would this be an admission they are not as intelligent or as capable as Israelis who produced an oasis on similarly uninhabitable land and with fewer people?
This is a win-win: Egypt unloads unused land for cash; the Palestinians get their own land and nation; Israel recovers lost territory and gains a secure border; The West’s economy improves with contracts for superstructure in the new country; nobody has to die.
The current administration’s goal to evacuate all Americans from Israel could be the impetus Hezbollah (terrorist organization in Lebanon) needs for attacking Israel from the north. With no-skin-in-the-game, Americans might be reluctant to put boots on the ground just to protect Jews.
Chuck Klein
Georgetown