Jerusalem Post: “JINSA Urges US Support of Israeli Sovereignty over the Jordan Valley”

The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) released a report on Friday, arguing that Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley would have long-term security benefits for the US, Israel and Jordan.

“We believe that this is an opportune time to enshrine Israel’s permanent control of the Jordan Valley, and the strategic benefits for Israel, Jordan and the United States outweigh any real but ultimately temporary costs,” JINSA President and CEO Michael Makovsky said.

The report urges US decision makers to support such a move, saying, “it would serve as a defensive buffer protecting Israel against attacks from the east and allowing it to hold back the region’s growing disorder and especially Iran’s aggression, thereby advancing US national security interests.”

The report added that “It would provide a far more defensible boundary than the so-called Green Line, or pre-1967 line, especially in the current geostrategic context of an increasingly violent and unpredictable Middle East.”

JINSA added that Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley would help protect Jordan and the Palestinian Authority “from the real possibility that Hamas could overthrow the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank – as it did in Gaza in 2007.”

“The report addresses the risks of such a historic move, taking seriously the objections made by Jordan, European governments, and others,” JINSA said in a statement. “Yet given the benefits to regional stability and American interests, any costs are likely short-term, the report concludes.”

Earlier this week, seven Republican senators called on US President Donald Trump to support Israel extending its laws to parts of the West Bank.

American recognition of Israel applying sovereignty is “critical to locking in the progress your administration has made reversing the Obama-Biden legacy, restoring the US-Israel relationship and establishing a realistic basis for peace,” the letter reads.

The letter’s signatories were Senators Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Kevin Cramer, Thom Tillis, Cindy Hyde-Smith, John Barrasso and Joni Ernst.

By Omri Nahmias

Originally published in Jerusalem Post