Jordan may support 'one-state democratic solution' to Israel-Palestine conflict: report

In an interview in the Jordanian capital, Omar Razzaz endorsed an idea rejected by Israel for the alleged risk it poses to the state's Jewish identity, but increasingly backed by Palestinian activists as the prospects of establishing their own state have dimmed.

"You close the door to the two-state solution, I could look at this positively, if we're clearly opening the door to a one-state democratic solution," Razzaz said.

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His remarks come as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex large swathes of the occupied West Bank, including Israeli settlements – considered illegal under international law – as well as parts of the Jordan Valley.

The plan has drawn widespread condemnation from the Palestinian leadership, former Israeli security officials, and political leaders across the world.

Jordan's King Abdullah has been particularly vocal in his campaign against the plan, arguing that it marks the death knell of an autonomous Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders, which would incorporate the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Read also: Jordan king says Israel’s annexation plans endanger regional peace

He has also said it puts Israel and his country – who both signed a peace treaty in 1994 – on a path of "massive conflict".

Razzaz' comments – which signal a greater openness to a one-state solution than previously expressed by Jordan’s leadership – point to what Amman and other countries may propose as a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict if annexation goes ahead, The Guardian report says.

Yet the former World Bank leader stressed that the idea is beset by the problem of Israel's opposition to granting Palestinians equal rights.

"Who's talking about the one-state solution in Israel? They're talking about apartheid in every single sense" he said.

Razzaz said that annexation would enshrine a South-Africa style apartheid already practiced against Palestinians within Israel and the Ocuupied Palestinian Territories, serving to further destabilise the region.

The Israeli foreign ministry has refused to comment on Razzaz’s remarks.

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