The right and only solution

His Majesty King Abdullah's talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Amman on Monday were yet another occasion to impress upon the Israeli leader that no matter how long the parties search for a durable and just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, there is but one such option and it is the two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state. Anything short of this reasonable and fair solution, the parties to the conflict would be wasting their time.

Netanyahu must have paid a swift visit to Jordan to solicit the ideas of the King on the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian territories, including of course East Jerusalem. Netanyahu must have recognised by now that the Palestinian conflict is getting worse, not better, with time. He knows deep in his heart that the King's ideas for the settlement of the age-old Palestinian problem are not only the correct ones, but also the only ones.

If Netanyahu returned to Israel more convinced with King Abdullah’s prescription for a final solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, then his visit was worth it. If not, the Israeli prime minister would have wasted his time and the time of the King.

No less important is the reaffirmation of the Hashemite custodianship over the Muslim and Christian holy places in East Jerusalem, the scene of escalating tensions. Messing with this historical obligation would be playing with fire and Netanyahu knows it.

The economic relation between Jordan and the West Bank is another pressing matter. The King wants Israel to lift its restrictions on Jordanian exports to the West Bank, with a view to reconstructing stronger economic relations between Jordan and the Palestinians.

The security and stability of the West Bank is also Jordan's business. There is no way the stability of the West Bank can be promoted without parallel economic plans to improve the living standards of the Palestinians in the West Bank. This is where stronger economic relations between the two sides can go a long way to set the stage for a more prosperous West Bank.