Proposal on Governance of the Holy Basin

May 26, 2013

We of the Citizen's Proposal endorse the substance of Prime Minister Olmert's 2008 offer to set up an international trusteeship to govern the Holy Basin, which he advanced during his talks with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. We consider that his offer, while seemingly a concession, actually provides the best way forward toward a shared future for the three Abrahamic Religions for the long term. We also believe that by sharing the burden and responsibility for protecting the Holy Sites, it will enhance Israel's security.

Our proposal for the Trusteeship Council that would govern the Holy Basin, which we understand initially to be the Old City and its 3 main holy sites, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall, and the al-Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount, is as follows:

The Trusteeship Council would consist of 7 permanent members and 3 non-permanent members. The permanent members would be Israel (the Jewish nation), the US, England and Germany (Christian nations), and Palestine, Jordan and Saudi Arabia (Muslim nations).
The 3 non-permanent members would serve for 3-year terms. They would be selected from the various regions of the world: 1) Europe/Eastern Europe/Russia; 2) the Americas; 3) Africa; 4) Asia/ Oceania on a rotating basis.
The 10 sitting members of the Trusteeship Council would elect a new non-permanent member each year. A nation is qualified to serve as a non-permanent member if it fulfills certain basic conditions: it does not support or engage in terrorism, it recognizes the legitimacy of Israel and Palestine as sovereign states and has diplomatic relations with both states, etc.
The non-permanent members would have a vote on all matters of governance. But they would not have a vote on any constitutional matters that would change the procedure or scope of the Trusteeship's governing authority. Constitutional matters would be decided by a vote of the Permanent members.