King Abdullah fears the Arab Spring

By Chaim Shine Israel Hayom
[..]
King Abdullah is afraid that the Arab Spring will reach his country. He is clever enough to understand that the expected recognition of a Palestinian state at the U.N. this month is just the beginning of a larger maneuver, in which the Palestinians will demand control of Jordan as well. Pressure from the “Palestinian state” on Jordan will be heavy, stirring up significant unrest inside Jordan, which the kingdom will not survive. The fall of the dictatorships in the Arab world cannot pass over Jordan, which is a dictatorship in every sense of the word, even if the king is affable and British-educated, thanks to his mother, the daughter of a British officer.

The lengthy peace between Israel and Jordan has been the result of a clear set of common interests, at the Palestinians’ expense. King Abdullah did not want them. He needed to ease the demographic pressure on himself, and Israel agreed to deal with the Palestinians and enable them to live reasonable and normal lives within the restraints of its security needs and a historical connection to Judea and Samaria.

King Abdullah is now stirring up hostility towards Israel, as is commonly done in the Arab world, in the hope that hatred for Israel will create internal unity. He is mistaken. Tightening the rope will cause it to tear, and the Hashemite Kingdom will fall and those who truly deserve it – the Palestinians – will take over. Then it will be possible to reach a real peace between us and the Palestinians. Two states for two peoples: Israel for the Jews and Jordan for the Palestinians.