Book examines Jordanian-Israeli relations before, after peace accord

AMMAN — As the country with the longest border with Israel, Jordan’s signing of a peace treaty with Israel 20 years ago was the “wisest” decision in dealing with Tel Aviv’s growing interest in geographical expansion, experts said Thursday.

Speaking at a book signing ceremony of Hassan Barari’s “Jordan and Israel: a Troubled Relationship in a Volatile Region”, former prime minister and Royal Court chief Awn Khasawneh said the book is “crucial” to the understanding of Israel’s internal policies.

Khasawneh added the book explains the effect of Israel’s internal policies on its relations with the region.

Noting that peace between Israel and Jordan is affected by the region’s stability, he said the public should not judge leaders and decision makers for their past actions if they do not have enough historical information.

The former International Court of Justice judge said Israel builds itself on “fragmented identities”, urging the public to remember that tribal leaders in north Jordan demanded that Israel release popular Palestinian leaders Amin Husseini and Aref Aref from prison before signing a peace agreement.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Adnan Abu Odeh, former Royal Court chief and political observer, said the Balfour Declaration of 1917 — in which Britain, through its foreign secretary at the time Arthur James Balfour, promised a homeland for Jews in Palestine — put Jordan in a “critical situation”, since it has the longest border with Israel. 

“Israel is moved by Zionism, which seeks building and expanding a Jewish state,” Abu Odeh added. 

Before 1948, the area extending from the Mediterranean coast to the Jordanian desert included Palestinians, Jordanians and a Jewish community, he highlighted, noting that the Palestinian population exceeded one million, while Jordanians and the Jewish community were around 500,000 each.

The conflict started when Palestinians were left with no state after the 1948 war, the political analyst said, expecting the conflict to continue until the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“There will be no peace without the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said at the event, organised by the German Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung. 

Former Royal Court chief Jawad Anani highlighted the shift in Jordan’s stance on the Palestinian state before and after the peace treaty with Israel.

“According to the book, before the 1967 war, Jordan felt the need to regain the Palestinian lands that fell under Israel’s control in the 1967 war, while after the peace treaty, Jordan saw its best interest in the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” Anani said.

He noted that the book does not discuss what Jordan’s future strategy in dealing with Israel should be in light of the current political tensions in the region, which can largely affect the area’s demographics. 

Barari, said the book examines the relations between Jordan and Israel before and after the peace treaty to predict where they are headed in the future.

The author noted that all Israeli political parties agree on the value of land, peace and security, although they vary in prioritising them, depending on their views as leftists and rightists.

“The Israeli community witnessed a move towards the political right after the peace treaty,” Barari said, adding that the Israeli government secures the interests of occupational movements under its laws.