Abdullah does not rule out suspending peace deal with the Jewish state, insists two-state solution ‘the only way forward’
TOI STAFF
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, during the former’s surprise visit to Amman on January 16, 2014 (AP/Yousef Allan/Jordanian Royal Palace)
Jordan’s King Abdullah has warned that should Israel move forward with plans to annex parts of the West Bank, it would lead to a “massive conflict” with his country, and did not rule out pulling out of Amman’s peace deal with the Jewish state.
In an interview published Friday by the German daily Der Spiegel, Abdullah insisted that a two-state solution was “the only way forward” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
““What would happen if the Palestinian National Authority collapsed? There would be more chaos and extremism in the region. If Israel really annexed the West Bank in July, it would lead to a massive conflict with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” he said, when asked by his interviewer about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intention to “take advantage of the opportunity that [US President Donald] Trump has created to seize large parts of Palestine.”
“I don’t want to make threats and create an atmosphere of loggerheads, but we are considering all options. We agree with many countries in Europe and the international community that the law of strength should not apply in the Middle East,” the king added, when asked if his country — one of only two Arab nations, along with Egypt, to have signed a peace deal with Israel — could suspend that treaty.
Jordanian King Abdullah II delivers a speech at the European Parliament, on January 15, 2020, in Strasbourg, eastern France. (Frederick Florin/AFP)
Jordan has a large Palestinian population and is deeply invested in promoting a two-state solution. “Leaders who advocate a one-state solution do not understand what that would mean,” he told the German daily.
The king’s comments echoed remarks he made in a September 2019 interview, warning that a West Bank annexation would have “a major impact on the Israeli-Jordanian relationship.” At the time, he stopped short of threatening to cut diplomatic ties.
More recently, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi reportedly urged his counterparts in several countries to dissuade Jerusalem from its annexation plans. Implementing them would be “devastating,” would mark the death of a two-state solution, and could have explosive consequences for the region, he was said to have warned his interlocutors. But again, no word about ending the peace deal.
Friday’s interview was published hours before European Union foreign ministers were set to meet virtually to consider potential measures against Israel over its plan to annex parts of the West Bank.
Jordan has been lobbying the EU to take “practical steps” to make sure annexation doesn’t happen. In a statement, Safadi “stressed the need for the international community and the European Union in particular to take practical steps that reflect the rejection of any Israeli decision to annex.”
Several European nations led by France, and including Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg, have reportedly expressed support for threats of punitive action in a bid to deter the new Israeli government — set to be sworn in on Sunday — from carrying out the move with a green light from Washington.
On Tuesday EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said annexation plans and the union’s response to them would be “the most important item on the agenda” of the meeting.
The EU bloc is Israel’s largest trading partner, grants Israel favored trading status, and helps fund Israeli scientific research and development through its massive Horizon 2020 program.
As part of their coalition agreement, Netanyahu and Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz agreed that the government can begin moving forward with applying Israeli sovereignty to settlements and the Jordan Valley after July 1, a move expected to enjoy backing from a majority of lawmakers in the Knesset.
Annexation of settlements and the Jordan Valley has been a key campaign promise of Netanyahu and his Likud party in recent elections. A plurality of slightly fewer than half of Israelis back the idea, and fewer than a third think the government will actually go through with it, according to a survey of Israelis released Sunday.
Netanyahu’s plan to annex portions of the West Bank has been met with harsh criticism from nearly the entire international community, including Washington’s European allies and key Arab partners. President Donald Trump’s Mideast peace plan allows for the possibility of US recognition of such annexations provided Israel agrees to negotiate under the framework of the proposal that was unveiled in January.
According to the proposed plan, the US will recognize an Israeli application of sovereignty over parts of the West Bank following the completion of a survey conducted by a joint US-Israel mapping committee and Israel’s acceptance of both a four-year freeze of the areas earmarked for a future Palestinian state and a commitment to negotiate with the Palestinians based on the terms of Trump’s peace deal.
Alone among most governments, the Trump administration has said it will support the annexation of West Bank territory claimed by the Palestinians for an eventual state as long as Israel agrees to enter peace talks.
US Ambassador David Friedman said last week that Washington is ready to recognize Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank should it be declared in the coming weeks.
I predict Jordan will make some symbolic gestures when Israel applies sovereignty such as pulling the Ambassador to Israel or kicking out the Israeli Ambassador for a while. Just as they have done previously. They do not want the water and gas to stop. They do not want a war. So what can they really do except make noises and gestures!
@ Talia:
Abdullah is afraid of the Palestinian Arabs. They tried to kill his father during the Black September revolt. And they comprise about 70 percent of Jordan’s population. He doesn’t want more of them in Jordan and is afraid more will immigrate to Jordan with this Trump Peace Plan. Why, though, is this article about Israel’s annexing parts of Judea and Samaria? Israel isn’t planning to annex anything. Israel owns all of Judea and Samaria, and annexation means taking what belongs to some other country after a war of aggression. Israel was a defender in Jordan’s war of aggression against Israel in 1967. What Israel is planning is to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jewish settlements in approximately 30% of Judea and Samaria. That will leave 70% for another Arab State (Jordan having been the first Arab State carved out of Palestine). But that Arab State will have to comply also with certain stipulations in the Trump Peace Plan. The Palestinian Arabs, who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, will never agree to, or form, such a state. They want all of what belongs to Israel with the Jews gone.
Proclaim the sovereignty and
pull the plug on the water and gas .
Then the Jordanian public will be annoyed without essentials.
Then see what they say…As if it will make a difference…
I don’t have a problem with the two-State solution as long as the second state is in Jordan. If Abdullah is so concerned about the Arabs in Gaza and Judea-Samaria, why doesn’t he take them in himself? He’s got a lot more land mass in his country, and besides they all speak the same language. Of course, that would throw a monkey-wrench into the plan of the Arabs to destroy us and throw us into the sea.
It is very often said that the Palestinians “claim” certain territories for their proposed state. Let me point out that a more proper word is “desire” since claim implies some pre-existing right to what is claimed. The West Bank was never “Palestinian” and, in fact, despite King Abdullah’s current fake protestations, was taken over by Jordan, not any Palestinian entity after the 1948 War. The Palestinians may desire certain territories but they have no right to claim them.
“Abdullah insisted that a two-state solution was “the only way forward” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The “two-State solution” (or as somebody else called it “the final solution) is only one in which the Arabs will be able to destroy the Jewish State — make Israel indefensible by establishing an Islamic State inside its Mandated borders and we can all live in love, peace and harmony, I promise! — just like the Arabs have been pleading for since the end of the last 3 all-out wars they declared in their efforts to destroy the Jewish State.