A Constructive Solution for the Palestinian Problem

The Palestinian problem requires both political and physical solutions. Until now the emphasis has been on the former with no success. It is very hard for people and nations to admit that they have been wrong in the past! But what if we could reverse the order and implement a physical solution that would help bring about a political solution?

This paper is trying to do just that. Given the current political reality it is hard to conceive of a Palestinian state when the components of a future state lack territorial contiguity. But what if the creation of a Palestinian state started with the creation of geographic contiguity by means of a tunnel? Sounds crazy, right? My purpose is to show how to attain contiguity in a manner that would actually encourage the creation and the smart management of a Palestinian state?

First, a few relevant data points:

1. Presently, the two major concentrations of Palestinians are the 5.5 million who live in the territory ruled by the Palestinian Authority and Gaza and the approximately 5 million who live in 58 UN-run refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and the Syrian Arab Republic.
2. The Palestinians camps are run by UNRWA on a budget of $1.5 billion p.a. to which the U.S. contributes about one-third.
3. Israel has suffered over the years by having to go through 5 wars and 2 Intifadas not counting the killing of more than 1,200 of its citizens on October 7th 2023.

The establishment of a Palestinian state is hampered by the lack of territorial contiguity which can be resolved by building a tunnel containing 4 highway lanes and a rail track connecting Gaza and the territory under the PA control plus a major portion of the Occupied West Bank that is populated today by Palestinians. The small part of the West Bank where there are Israeli settlements that had been in existence prior to October 7, 2023 will become part of Israel proper.

Financing the Tunnel. The tunnel will be built by a private company and funded by a newly established U.N. funding authority, the Palestine Tunnel Funding Authority (PaTFA) with the budget necessary to complete the job which we estimate to be $10-$13 billion falling somewhere between the building of the Large Hadron Collider under the Alps ($4.5 billion) and the Chunnel connecting the Uk with the European continent ($21 billion). If the financial assistance provided by the UN falls short of the required budget, the UN will guarantee a bond issued by the new Palestinian state and guaranteed by PaTFA.

Benefits. Besides providing both the physical and the emotional/psychological connection necessary for a viable Palestinian state, the tunnel will enable commerce between the two parts of Palestine as well as the commercial and personal integration of Israel into the new configuration of the Middle East by providing a few access points to the tunnel from Israel to encourage commerce and personal contact between their citizens.

It can be reasonably expected that Gaza will become the "golden coast" of the Mediterranean attracting tourists from all over the world. To properly serve the world tourism trade will require a significant infrastructure investment in hotels, roads, and an international airport which will be open to global investors. The great advantage of turning Gaza's Mediterranean coast into a thriving international tourist attraction is that it should take no more than 4-5 years to put up the required infrastructure.

In the meantime, Gaza, in particular, and the entire State of Palestine can develop a thriving hi-tech industry by inviting diaspora Palestinian talent to return home and build a hi-tech industry from scratch. In this regard, the geographic closeness and the political interests of Israel would play a very positive role. The development of a a hi-tech industry in Palestine open to global investment should play a critical role in fostering business cooperation between Palestine and Israel which will help guarantee peace in the flourishing Middle East.

Of course, success in this endeavor could act as a magnet for establishing the Palestine/Israel hi-tech joint venture as the centerpiece of a new hi-tech encompassing all the Middle East states and possibly going so far as the Arab Peninsula states, the largest of which is trying to balance its dependence on petroleum. It is hoped that the hi-tech cooperation will plant the seeds to the establishment of a Middle East Common Market based on the EU model.

The Middle East is perfect for a common market: some of the states in the region can contribute the production raw materials required by industry; some can provide the energy resources; and, very importantly, the Middle East population provides a natural consumer market for many of the goods that the region will produce.

So why wait?