  We propose a common envelope jets supernova scenario for the enigmatic
supernova iPTF14hls where a neutron star that spirals-in inside the envelope of
a massive giant star accretes mass and launches jets that power the ejection of
the circumstellar shell and a few weeks later the explosion itself. To account
for the kinetic energy of the circumstellar gas and the explosion, the neutron
star should accrete a mass of approximately 0.3 solar masses. The tens of solar
masses of circumstellar gas that accounts for some absorption lines is ejected
while the neutron star orbits for about one to several weeks inside the
envelope of the giant star. In the last hours of the interaction the neutron
star merges with the core, accretes mass, and launches jets that eject the core
and the inner envelope to form the explosion itself and the medium where the
supernova photosphere resides. The remaining neutron star accretes fallback gas
and further powers the supernova. We attribute the 1954 pre-explosion outburst
to an eccentric orbit and temporary mass accretion by the neutron star at
periastron passage prior to the onset of the common envelope phase.
