PA ‘ready to talk’ about confederation with Jordan

MIDDLE EAST MONITOR

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has said that it is ready to talk about the prospect of a confederation with Jordan, drawing fierce condemnation from the Kingdom.

The PA’s Ambassador to Moscow, Abdel-Hafeez Nofal, said that the PA is “ready to talk about a confederal union” with Jordan, Al-Resala newspaper reported yesterday.

Secretary General of the Jordanian Popular Unity Party, Said Thiyab, condemned Nofal’s remarks, saying: “The PA’s remarks about its readiness to talk about a confederation with Jordan undermines Palestinian rights in favour of passing the deal of the century,” referring to the long-awaited US peace plan slated to be released after Ramadan.

Thiyab stressed that Jordan’s stance regarding a confederation is clear, referring to a statement by Jordan’s King Abdullah in which he said: “There is no alternative to the two-state solution and the creation of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.”

Nofal’s comments come just six months after PA President Mahmoud Abbas said he would conditionally agree to such a US offer. During a meeting with an Israeli delegation from Peace Now in February, Abbas said that “the confederal plan was proposed by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump and his adviser, as well as the US envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt”.

Abbas told Peace Now that he would accept such an offer if Israel agreed to be part of the proposed conferral union as well. “They asked me,” Abbas said, “and I said: I believe in a tripartite confederal with Jordan and Israel”.