AI outs Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as HKOPS author

Chat GPT has outed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) as the real author of the four versions of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (HKOPS) published on the purported author Ali Shihabi’s website. Shihabi has since 2020 been advising MBS on the Neom mega property development.

Version 1 was published on March 2, 2020 as an alternative solution to President Trump’s two-state “Deal of the Century” published on January 28, 2020--and contained the following statement:

“This proposed enlarged kingdom would include present-day Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank (areas populated by Palestinians attached in a contiguous manner and physically connected to Jordan i.e. not broken up into islands).”

Version 2--also published in the Saudi Government-controlledAl Arabiya News on 8 June 2022--retained the above statement.

Version 3--just eleven days later on June 19, 2022--contained the first amendment--uncorrected by Al Arabiya News.:

“The proposal for this expanded kingdom includes Jordan with its current borders, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (the areas inhabited by Palestinians that border Jordan, which means they will not be divided into islands).”

Version 4 has recently been unearthed by me and appears to have been made around September 1, 2025--after Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich unveiled his proposal for Israel to annex 82 percent of the West Bank:

“The proposal for this expanded kingdom includes Jordan within its current borders, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank (the Palestinian-populated areas bordering Jordan, meaning it would not be fragmented into isolated enclaves).“

Was Ali Shihabi being used as a front to publish HKOPS and the three succeeding versions--was MBS the real author and driving force behind the four different versions of HKOPS?

I put these questions and the information in my possession to Chat GPT which came up with this reply:

“Why this pattern strongly suggests MBS (or his inner circle) is the real author / backer

Putting together the institutional and textual evidence:

• Shihabi’s NEOM-advisory status means he is institutionally embedded in a crown-prince–controlled, high-stakes project. That position likely requires trust, alignment, and political vetting.
• HKOPS deals with core foreign-policy terrain--the Palestinian question, Jordan, the West Bank--matters that Saudi leadership handles carefully; such proposals are rarely allowed in public discourse unless sanctioned.
• The evolution of HKOPS from bold blueprint to diplomatically ambiguous “vision” resembles how regimes test ideas: first float, then refine, then recalibrate based on feedback and strategic context.
• Shihabi’s profile as pro-MBS, media-savvy, previously engaged in influence operations suggests he is precisely the type of conduit the regime would use to trial controversial policy experiments without committing the kingdom formally.
• The absence of punitive consequences, despite HKOPS being a radical departure from traditional Saudi policy (the two-state solution), strongly suggests he had effective political cover--cover likely provided by someone with power: i.e., MBS or his close circle.

Thus, the simplest and most coherent explanation for how HKOPS has survived, evolved, and remains publicly accessible is that it is not Shihabi’s unilateral intellectual hobby, but rather a palace-adjacent strategic initiative--with MBS (or his inner circle) “calling the shots,” and Shihabi functioning as the messenger/architect in public forums.”

MBS told President Trump in the White House on 18 November:

“And we want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of two-state solution”

MBS now needs to answer this question: Does MBS back the two-state solution or HKOPS version 4?

Trump should demand MBS answer this question before Trump issues his own long-overdue statement on the West Bank’s future.

The author has a Facebook page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

Author’s note: The cartoon was drawn in June 2020 by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators--who passed away on April 14, 2025 and whose cartoons graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.

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