Liberman says Jordan should run Areas A and B, and the right erupts

Update, 23 September, 15:08 Israel time

A further critic from within the nationalist camp has weighed in. Yosef Haddad of Amcha Yisrael said Liberman's clarification that he was referring to Areas A and B made the idea no less objectionable, asking whether anyone thought it was less severe for Jordan to enter Judea and Samaria, in remarks carried by N12 and also reported by News.co.il. Haddad's reaction is the second from Amcha Yisrael to be published.

The Times of Israel has meanwhile published direct quotations from the B'Sheva interview that had not previously appeared in the material available to us. According to that report, Liberman said an understanding had to be reached with the Jordanians under which they would manage Judea and Samaria and take security and administrative responsibility, because a vacuum could not be allowed. The same report quotes him as saying the Palestinian Authority "has gone bankrupt," and, when asked whether Jordan could be trusted with the role, that Amman has "no choice" and could either deploy its military or stand up forces under Jordanian command.

The Times of Israel describes Liberman as hawkish and opposition-aligned, and dates the interview to Wednesday. There is still no Jordanian reaction in any of the reports.

The story as first reported

Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the secular-nationalist party Yisrael Beytenu, said in an interview that Israel should reach an understanding with Jordan under which the Hashemite Kingdom would take security and administrative responsibility for Palestinian population areas of the West Bank. The remarks, made to the outlet BaSheva, were reported by the political correspondent Amit Segal, who described them as an unusual statement from a politician identified with the Israeli right.

Within hours the comments had drawn public attacks from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and from ministers and party leaders across the governing coalition. The Jerusalem Post reported that Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich both went after Liberman over the proposed Jordanian role, under the quoted line "I knew you were Left." Liberman did not withdraw the proposal.

What Areas A, B and C are

The division dates from the interim accords signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s. Area A covers the main Palestinian cities, including Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem, and is nominally under Palestinian Authority civil and security control. Area B is under Palestinian civil administration with Israeli security control. Area C, which contains Israeli settlements, the Jordan Valley and most open land, remains under full Israeli civil and military control. Any proposal that reassigns responsibility for A and B therefore touches the core of how the West Bank, referred to in Israeli official language as Judea and Samaria, is governed day to day.

What Liberman actually proposed

In his own posted statement, carried by News.co.il, Liberman said Israel must create territorial contiguity between all of Area C and keep absolute control there, while finding an alternative for administrative and security control in Areas A and B. He described the Palestinian Authority as a terror organisation, said he strongly opposes Israel managing the lives of Palestinians in Nablus, Jenin or Tulkarem, and argued that an agreement with Jordan is needed to prevent a vacuum that Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militants would fill. He used the term "Israeli-Jordanian confederation."

Asked how Jordanian responsibility would work in practice, Liberman said he did not know whether the Jordanians would send in an army or raise battalions under Jordanian command, according to News.co.il. Ynet reported that he framed the idea as one the Jordanians would have little choice but to accept.

A discrepancy over which areas

The sources do not fully agree on what Liberman first said. An early Ynet news alert quoted him as saying Jordan should manage Areas B and C, alongside a one-line response from Netanyahu: "Retract immediately!" A later alert from the same outlet reported that Yisrael Beytenu said Liberman had erred and had meant Areas A and B. Segal's report and Liberman's own written statement both refer to A and B. We are reporting the discrepancy rather than resolving it.

The coalition response

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who leads Otzma Yehudit, said Liberman had become confused again, that Judea and Samaria is not a parcel that can be handed to Jordan and "this is not Wolt," a reference to the food delivery application, calling the areas homeland territory and Liberman dangerous for Israel, according to N12. Arye Deri, leader of the Sephardi haredi party Shas, said Liberman had forgotten what it means to be right-wing, Ynet's alerts service reported.

Winter, chairman of the party Amcha Yisrael, said in a statement carried by N12 that a foreign army should not be brought into Israeli-held territory and that only the Israel Defense Forces should be responsible for security between the Jordan River and the sea, warning that anything else was part of a dangerous conception that would bring about an October 7 from Judea and Samaria.

Liberman, for his part, said Netanyahu had no right to lecture him on morality, and argued that the only figure to have declared willingness to establish a Palestinian state was Netanyahu himself.

What the reports do not say

The material does not include any Jordanian reaction, and there is no indication in the reports that Amman has been approached or has responded. It does not say what legal or security arrangements a confederation would involve, what would happen to the Palestinian Authority under the plan, or whether Yisrael Beytenu has published a written proposal. Smotrich's exact words are not quoted in the material available, only reported as an attack. The Jerusalem Post caption notes the party is polling at around 10 seats, but the reports give no polling on the proposal itself.