A disputed report suggests the president of Egypt made to the Palestinians the most generous offer anyone could have imagined. If he did make such an offer Mahmoud Abbas refused. (The foreign ministry of Egypt denies the report.) Such an offer would be a little difficult for Israel to accept. It would be even more difficult for the Palestinians to refuse, if they want peace as they say.

Where did the report came from?

The report came from Gali-Tzahal (literally, IDF Radio or Army Radio), or Galatz for short. Readers can read it in the original, or in English by Independent Media Review and Analysis, or from Google Translate. According to this report, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt offered a massive land grant to the Palestinian Authority. This grant would be five times the size of the present Gaza Strip territory and contiguous with it. It would effectively enlarge the Gaza territory by a factor of six.

Israel, its neighbors, and disputed territories. Graphic: Central Intelligence Agency

Furthermore, al-Sisi would ask officials in Israel to grant autonomy to the Palestinian Authority over all cities having majorities of Palestinian residents. The PA would run civic life in any of those cities. But in return, Mahmoud Abbas would give up all claim to the lands that the people of Israel call Judea and Samaria, and the rest of the world calls “The West Bank.”

Al-Sisi tried to tell Abbas he ought to accept the plan. Mahmoud Abbas is 80 years old. If he doesn’t accept the plan, his successor might. So said al-Sisi. But he could not convince Abbas, and Abbas definitely refused.

IDF Radio also said American officials knew about and approved the plan. So did Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel. But Netanyahu did not brief any of his officials about it.

What does Egypt say now?

The foreign ministry of Egypt denies al-Sisi offered any such land grant. The Palestinians also denied ever having any such offer from Egypt. They also said they would reject such an offer even if Egypt made one. But hours later, members of Netanyahu’s cabinet and governing coalition praised the offer from Egypt as reasonable and feasible.

The i24 report also said the “unity government” between al-Fatah, who runs things in Judea and Samaria, and Hamas in Gaza, could fall apart any time.

What would it mean?

The IDF radio report said the new, massive Palestinian state would be “demilitarized.” That suggests no army, and no militia. We know the new state’s borders would extend the Gaza Strip south of the Camp David Treaty line. But how else would the boundary line run? None of the reports says. Nor did anyone publish a map to tell us.

The people of Israel would welcome anything that sounds like a peaceful solution. The generals who run Egypt want to weaken the Muslim Brotherhood and its chapter, Hamas. But would either country realize its goals? How long would Greater Gaza stay demilitarized?

The Egypt offer would recognize all land beyond the limits of Jericho, Ramallah, and other such cities as Jewish land, open to Jewish settlement. But how long would peace last, with a number of cities now become effective no-go zones to outsiders?

We might never know the answers. Because as usual, the offer turned out to be too good for a Palestinian leader to take.

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